Chennai was 2014 suicide capital of India

Chennai: With as many as six persons killing themselves a day in 2014, Chennai has emerged as the suicide capital of the country, National Crime Record Bureau data revealed. Among the mega cities having a population of over 10 lakh, Chennai reported 2,214 suicides followed by Bengaluru, which logged 1,906 deaths while in Delhi 1,847 people killed themselves. As many as 1,196 committed suicide in Mumbai in the same period.

As many as 1.31 lakh people killed themselves last year in the country. The NCRB said that ‘family problems’ (other than that linked to marriage) contributed to 21.7 per cent of the suicides while illness related-issues were behind suicides in 18 per cent of the total cases reported last year.

Among states, Maharashtra with 16,307 suicides tops the list followed by Tamil Nadu with 16,122 cases and West Bengal 14,310.  NCRB also said that as many as 69.7 per cent of those who killed themselves had an annual income of less than Rs 1 lakh.    

Data also shows that one out of every six suicide cases was a housewife and the overall male-to-female ratio for suicides in 2014 was 68:32. NCRB says 41.8 per cent people committed suicide by hanging, 26 per cent by taking poison, 6.9 per cent by self-immolation, 5.6 per cent by drowning themselves and 1.1 per cent by jumping off buildings or in front of trains.

While 20.2 per cent were matriculates, 19 per cent were primary school pass-outs. Also, 14.3 per cent persons who committed suicide last year were illiterate with another 11 per cent being intermediate pass-outs, according to the NCRB data.

Urban pressures behind rising suicide rate

Chennai leads in suicide cases compared with the other metro cities, recent data from National Crime Record Bureau showed. As a state, Tamil Nadu ranks second in suicide cases after Maharashtra, the data said.

Southern states have a high suicide rate. Chennai had always had a highest number of suicide cases, said Dr Lakshmi Vijay Kumar founder of SNEHA.  She explained a number of possible reasons for Chennai leading in suicide rates.“It is a reflection of high suicide rate in entire Tamil Nadu. So the city also has a high suicide rate. Four to five years ago it used to be Bengaluru. In terms of development, Chennai is catching up with Bengaluru. So there is a lot of migration from rural areas to urban city.” People from rural areas come into cities with a lot of expectations and when they are unable to fulfil them they commit suicide.

Dr Mini Rao, psychologist, also explained why there is an increase in the number of suicide cases among housewives. She said Chennai is the most conservative city compared with other metro cities. Therefore women in Chennai, after getting married in a joint family, are unable to cope. They don’t maintain a good rapport with their in-laws. “Housewives get bored as they remain in the house, cooking and cleaning,” she said.

As men return home late from work, wives spend most of their time in social media which has proved dangerous in many ways. “I have got many cases wherein wives have taken to flirting with random people over social networking sites as they are neglected by their spouse. This happens when their husbands are unable to spend time with them,” she said. Sometimes, women end up in extra-marital affairs. These episodes have ruined relationships and children also get neglected. Women unable to take it end up committing suicide.

Students commit suicide because of career imposition where they are forced to become doctors, lawyers, engineers and so on. When it comes to young men and college students, migration is the reason. Students from rural areas are unable to cope up with lifestyles of the urban people, she said.