Sri Lanka, April 3 -- Every journalist in Sri Lanka knows that some stories are harder to tell than others. Like reporting on suicide. It requires sensitivity, restraint, and a deep awareness of the consequences, especially when it involves sharing something as intimate as a suicide note.

Yet, across newsrooms in Sri Lanka and beyond, a troubling practice persists: the publication and broadcasting of suicide notes after someone has died by suicide. We justify it as "giving the public the full story," or even as a cautionary tale. But one has to pause and ask a question: would one publish this note if the person had survived?

The answer is no. Almost always.

That inconsistency should unsettle us.

A Private Letter, Not a Public Document...