Scrutiny reveals 242 men and 129 women commit suicide every day

As many as 1,35,445 people committed suicide in the country last year. Statistics released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) show that excluding West Bengal, 79,773 men and 40,715 women had taken the extreme step. West Bengal, where 14,957 suicides were reported, did not provide classification statistics to the NCRB.

The rate of suicide last year stands at 11.2 cases for a population of I lakh. As per rounded off figures provided by the NCRB, on an average, 15 suicides an hour or 371 suicides a day had taken place. When scrutinised further, it reveals 242 male and 129 female suicides a day.

Tamil Nadu tops the list with 16,927 suicides, followed by Maharashtra with 16,112 suicides, West Bengal 3rd and Andhra Pradesh following it with 14,328 suicides. The 28 States together accounted for 1,32,667 cases and the seven Union Territories together for 2,778 suicides. In the administrative division of Lakshadweep, only one person committed suicide. In Delhi UT, it was 1,899. Among the cities of the country, Chennai topped with 2,183 cases.

The rate of suicide at the administrative division of Puducherry was the highest in the country, 36.8 for every 1 lakh persons. With a population close to 15 lakh as per estimated mid-year population, 541 persons committed suicide in Puducherry in 2012. Sikkim follows with a rate of 29.1 per cent and Tamil Nadu 3rd with a rate of 24.9 closely followed by Kerala with 24.3. The national average stands at 11.2.

Family problems accounted for 84 suicides a day on an average. The NCRB figures show that social and economic causes have led most of the men to commit suicides whereas emotional and personal causes have mainly driven women to end their lives. The percentage of suicides by married men was 71.6% and married women 67.9%.

One suicide out of every six suicides was committed by a housewife. Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu plus Maharashtra have together accounted for 50.6% of the suicides reported in the country. The highest number of suicide pacts was reported from Rajasthan, 74, followed by Andhra Pradesh (18), Kerala (12), and Gujarat (3), out of 109 such cases reported.

Thirty-seven per cent of the victims took the extreme step by hanging themselves, 29.1 per cent by consuming poison and 8.4 per cent by self-immolation. Last year, 50,062 persons hanged themselves in the country and the majority were men at 34,631. The highest number of such cases was reported from Maharashtra, 7,055 followed by Kerala with 5,629 cases and Tamil Nadu 3rd with 5393 cases.

Nineteen thousand four hundred and forty five persons committed suicide by consuming poison and 12,286 of them were men. Tamil Nadu topped the list with 3,459 cases, followed by Karnataka with 3,173 cases. The number of self-immolation cases was 11,438, the majority being women — 7,326. In this category too, Tamil Nadu topped with 2,349 cases and 1,481 of them were women. Maharashtra followed with 1,674 such cases.

From among the cities, the highest number of self immolation cases was reported from Kanpur (285), followed by Chennai (282). By jumping in front of speeding vehicles, especially trains, 4,259 persons committed suicide and the majority of them were men (3,554). Andhra Pradesh topped this list with 1,101 cases.

As per NCRB statistics, 1,35,585 persons committed suicide in the country in 2011. NCRB statistics from 2002 shows that the annual suicide cases in the country always stood above the 1 lakh mark and the highest number of cases was in 2011. In 2002, it was 1,10,417 cases.