MillenniumPost
Delhi

One suicide every 36 hours in Gurgaon

When Dana Sangma, an MBA student and niece of Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma, committed suicide in her hostel room 24 April, she was following in the footsteps of dozens of others who took the extreme step in Haryana’s Gurgaon district that has recorded over 100 such incidents since January.

At least one suicide, on an average, is taking place every 36 hours in Gurgaon as victims hang themselves, consume poison or jump from a height, according to police figures which show that 104 people have ended their lives in the first four months of 2012.

Besides the alarming trend of suicides, there has been a huge jump in the number of suicide attempts as well. Nearly 88 of the suicide victims since January were aged between 20 and 40. A total of 13 victims were aged 15-19 years, police data showed.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Headquarters) P K Mehta said they were willing to do every possible thing to prevent suicides. In the last four months, 51 people hanged themselves, 33 ended their lives by consuming poison and 17 jumped to death in Gurgaon, official figures showed.

In January, six people, including a woman, hanged themselves, 12 people consumed poison while five died after jumping from high rises, say police. In February, the number of suicides due to hanging was 14, poison consumption seven and jumping from high buildings was eight.

In March, the figures were 15, six and six respectively. In April, there were 13 suicides due to hanging, six because of poison consumption and six due to falls from high rises.

The reasons for the suicide spurt in Gurgaon may be varied, but experts suspect depression could be the biggest killer. Doctor Bhramdeep Sindhu, senior consultant clinical psychologist at the civil hospital here, said everyone occasionally felt the blues but these feelings were fleeting and passed away in a couple of days.

‘When a person has a depression disorder, it interferes with daily life, normal functioning and causes distress to both the person with the disorder and those who care for him or her,’ he said.

‘Depression is a common but serious illness and most who experience it need treatment to get better,” he said, adding that daily almost 30-35 such patients with similar problems were consulting him.
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