Suicide by Crocodile

Newspapers are reporting that a woman in Thailand committed suicide by jumping into the crocodile pit at the Samut Prakarn crocodile farm outside Bangkok. [Daily Mail, ibtimes] This form of death, horrifying as it might be, is one of those things that Chuck would classify as 'no longer weird' because a quick search reveals that people feed themselves to crocodiles on a pretty regular basis:

1990: A woman climbed the fence at the same crocodile farm, Samut Prakarn, and was swarmed by crocs as hundreds of tourists watched in horror. [LA Times]

1994: Following the death of President Felix Houphouet-Boigny of the Ivory Coast, a man declared that without the president life wasn't worth living and jumped into the crocodile-infested moat outside the presidential palace in Yamoussoukro. Crowds watched for two days as the crocs chewed on his body. [Glasgow Herald]

2002: Again at Thailand's Samut Prakarn croc farm, a depressed woman waded into the crocodile pit. A spectator later said, "The moment the crocodile grabbed her body, she even hugged onto him. It was horrifying." [The Nation]

2011: A South-African farm worker, depressed after a fight with his lover, waded into the crocodile-infested Lepelle river. No one saw him actually being eaten, but someone later reported seeing a human leg dangling out of a crocodile's mouth. [Daily Mail]

Based on these reports, it sounds like it can take up to 20 or 30 minutes before the crocodiles actually kill you. So it's not a particularly quick form of suicide. Also, I'm not sure if it would be blood loss or drowning that would finally kill you -- or perhaps a combination of both!