INTRODUCTION
Over the past two decades, violence in the form of
suicide, homicide and war has remained one of the
leading causes of death worldwide. The WHO estimated
535 000 deaths due to violence occurred in
the world in 2008.1 Interpersonal violence was the
second leading cause of injury deaths among men
aged 15–44 years in 2008, after road traffic injuries.
1 WHO reported homicide death rate was
nearly three times greater than suicide rate among
deaths caused by violence in the African region,
and this differs from the European, Southeast Asian
and western Pacific regions.2