Karnataka sees one suicide in every 46 minutes

Karnataka sees one suicide in every 46 minutes

Mangalore Today News Network

Bengaluru, Sep 10, 2020:    More than 56,038 persons died by suicide in Karnataka between 2015 and 2019. That is nearly 31 suicides per day and one suicide in every 46 minutes.

 

A comparative study of the National Crime Records Bureau report: ‘Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India’ over five years (2015-19) shows that on an average 1.33 lakh people die by suicide in India.

In 2019 alone as many as 1.39 lakh died by suicide in the country and Maharashtra reported the highest number of cases with 18, 916 (13.6% of the total suicides in India) followed by Tamil Nadu (13,493; 9.7%), West Bengal (12,665; 9.1%), Madhya Pradesh (12,457; 9.1%) and Karnataka (11,288 or 8.1% of the total suicides in India).

The top five states contributed 49.5% of suicide cases, while the remaining 24 states and seven union territories contributed the remaining cases.

There has been a decline in the number of suicides being reported in Karnataka.

In 2017 the state had recorded 9% of the total cases in India, while in 2018 it was 8.6%. However, what has been worrying the state is that Bengaluru continues to be among the top three cities with the highest number of cases.

In 2019, Bengaluru reported 2,081 cases (2,082 in 2018). Chennai continues to report the most with 2,461 cases in 2019 and 2,369 cases in 2018. Delhi was ranked second in 2019 with 2,423 cases and 2,102 cases in 2018.

Mumbai, on the other hand, has reported 1,229 cases in 2019 and 1,174 cases in 2018.

The scenario in Karnataka

Of the total 56,038 persons who died by suicide in the state, 40,481 (75%) were male and 15, 551 (24.96) female.

Illness is said to be one of the major reasons for people ending their lives. Nearly 13,990 died due to this reason during the said period.

The other reasons are family problems (10,727), bankruptcy/ indebtedness (5,987), marriage related issues (2,338), failure in exams (1,298), love affairs (1,791), unemployment (1,782) and career problems (1,106).

The state has also reported 4,106 cases behind which causes were not known and 6,494 cases where people died by suicide for other reasons.

In the professional field, agriculture sector has witnessed the highest number of suicide cases in the state between 2015-19, as nearly 10,205 died by suicide. This was followed by self-employed people (9,323), housewives (7,748), daily wage earners (7,705), salaried persons (4,670), unemployed (4,843) and students (3267).

Majority of the people ended their lives by hanging self (30,223), followed by poisoning (14,387) and 1,471 people came under a moving vehicle, while in 2,798 cases, people found other means of ending life.

According to economist Sangeeta Kattimani, along with tremendous emotional toll on the families of those who died, suicides also have economic costs both in the short and long periods.

One of the main goals of World Suicide Prevention Day is to increase awareness about suicidal behaviours and how to effectively prevent them. It should everyone’s business to prevent suicide, she said.

Courtesy:Deccan Herald