NEW DELHI – Divorce, illegitimate pregnancy and professional/career problems seem to be pushing more people to commit suicide as per the NCRB report, 2011. At least 16 people committed suicide every hour and the total figure was noted to be 1.35 lakh as per the report.
It was noted that suicides due to divorce and “illegitimate pregnancy” witnessed a rise of 54 percent and 20 percent respectively in 2011. Number of suicides due Professional/Career Problem was noted to have increased by 20.1 percent. Whereas family problems accounted for almost one-fourth of suicides, illness was another major reason.
Statistics and trends compiled by the board revealed that social and economic causes led most men to commit suicide whereas emotional and personal causes mainly drove women to take the extreme step.
West Bengal reported the highest number of suicides (16,492) accounting for 12.2 percent of total suicides followed by Tamil Nadu (15,963), Maharashtra (15,947), Andhra Pradesh (15,077) and Karnataka (12,622) accounting for 11.8, 11.8, 11.1 and 9.3 percent respectively of the total suicides in the country. These 5 States together accounted for 56.2 percent of the total suicides reported in the country.
Among 53 mega cities with over 10 lakh population, Chennai was recorded to have 2,438 suicides while Bangalore (1,717), Delhi (1,385) and Mumbai (1,162) followed. The four cities reported almost 36.7 percent of the total suicides.
Uttar Pradesh, being the most populous state reported comparatively lower percentage of suicidal deaths, accounting for only 3.6 percent of the total suicides reported in the country.
The report also revealed that Mass/Family suicides consisted of 91 males, 106 females and 67 minors. It was noted that the highest number of cases were reported from Rajasthan (72) followed by Kerala (19), Andhra Pradesh (15) and Madhya Pradesh (14) out of 141 cases. Rajasthan reported highest number of such victims (100).
Underlying the economic angle to suicides, the report said 38 percent of victims were self-employed whereas the share of those with permanent jobs (government jobs) committing suicide was negligible at 1.2 percent.
Family Problems and illness were the major causes of suicides among the ‘specified causes’ accounting for 24.3 percent and 19.6 percent respectively. ‘Love Affairs’ (3.4 percent), ‘Drug Abuse/Addiction’ (2.7 percent), ‘Dowry Dispute’ (2.4 percent), ‘Bankruptcy’ (2.2 percent) and ‘Poverty’ (1.7 percent) were the other causes of suicides.
Suicides due to drug abuse/ addiction, love affairs, family problem, dowry dispute, suspected/illicit relation and cancellation/ non-settlement of marriage have shown an increasing trend during last 3 years. Suicides due to poverty, bankruptcy and physical abuse were noted to have shown a mixed trend during this period.
The report also revealed that Nagaland reported the highest increase of 175 percent in suicides in 2011 compared to the previous year while in Chandigarh, it increased by 47.9 percent.
Further, using poison and hanging were the two most common modes of committing suicide across the country.
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