An average of 381 deaths by suicide daily was reported in India in 2019, amounting to 1,39,123 fatalities in the year, the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data revealed.
A 3.4 per cent increase was observed in suicides during 2019 (1,39,123 suicides) as compared to 2018 (1,34,516) and 2017 (1,29,887), the data revealed.
The NCRB data further revealed that the rate of suicide (incidents per 1 lakh population) rose by 0.2 per cent in 2019 over 2018.
The NCRB data further stated that the suicide rate in cities (13.9 per cent) was higher as compared to the all-India suicide rate (10.4 per cent) in 2019.
The data further revealed that suicide- by hanging’ (53.6 per cent), consuming poison (25.8 per cent), drowning (5.2 per cent) and self-immolation (3.8 per cent) were the prominent means of committing suicides in the year.
The NCRB data further revealed that family problems (other than marriage-related issues) were behind 32.4 per cent of suicides, marriage-related problems (5.5 per cent) and illness (17.1 per cent) together accounted for 55 per cent of the total suicides.
“For every 100 suicide deaths, 70.2 were male and 29.8 females, the NCRB, which collects data from police recorded cases,” the NCRB data added.
It further revealed that nearly 68.4 per cent of the male victims were married, whereas the ratio was 62.5 per cent for female victims.
Majority of suicides were reported in Maharashtra (18,916), followed by 13,493 in Tamil Nadu, 12,665 in West Bengal, 12,457 in Madhya Pradesh and 11,288 in Karnataka, accounting for 13.6 per cent, 9.7 per cent, 9.1 per cent, 9 per cent and 8.1 per cent of total such deaths, respectively.
Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state, reported comparatively lower percentage share of suicidal deaths, accounting for only 3.9 per cent of the total suicides in the country, it added.
Maximum cases of mass/family suicide were reported from Tamil Nadu (16) followed by Andhra Pradesh (14), Kerala (11), Punjab (9) and Rajasthan (7), the NCRB data showed.
In terms of education, 12.6 per cent victims of suicide were illiterate, 16.3 per cent up to primary level, 19.6 per cent up to middle level and 23.3 per cent up to Class X level.
Only 3.7 per cent of total suicide victims were graduates and above, the NCRB data showed.