Over 61% suicides in 2019 were of people earning less than Rs 1L/yr

new delhi: The latest data on suicides released by the National Crime Records Bureau showed that more than 61.5 per cent of the people who had ended their lives last year in Delhi earned less than Rs 1 lakh per annum and that a total of 2,526 people had killed themselves, of which 677 were unemployed. Furthermore, the data revealed that over 8.6 per cent (218) suicides in the Capital last year were of students.

Significantly, the data revealed that more men in the city had killed themselves (1,758) than women (768). However, it also showed that of the women who had ended their lives, 305 or nearly 40 per cent were homemakers. The number of suicides last year was, interestingly, the same as the number in 2018 - 2,526 and the NCRB said that the leading cause for suicides in the Capital was family problems, due to which 825 people had killed themselves.

Comparing the data with other cities, Delhi comes in second among four mega metropolitan cities and tops the charts for suicides among union territories in the country. And while the NCRB said that 677 unemployed people took their lives in 2019, it has listed unemployment as a cause for suicide in around 118 cases. In fact, the data also showed that 22 suicides in the city last year were attributed to poverty, in addition to which, 247 daily wage earners had ended their lives.

As for the economic status of suicide victims from last year, 1,555 earned less than Rs 1 lakh annually, 895 earned between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 5 lakh per annum, 71 earned between Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh per year and five earned more than Rs 10 lakh.

The NCRB report on accidental deaths and suicides added that 18 suicides were attributed to bankruptcy or indebtedness, 123 to marital troubles and 49 were cases where people took the extreme step after having failed in an examination. Moreover, the NCRB data revealed that in 130 cases, people had killed themselves as a result of suffering from a physical or mental illness whereas drug abuse and alcoholism led to 64 suicides. The report added that 55 suicides were attributed to love affairs and 39 people had ended their lives over property disputes.

"In 35 cases professional and career problems were the reason behind the deaths and in 469 cases, causes were not known whereas 562 people died by suicide due to other reasons," the data shows. The NCRB also revealed that 238 professionals and salaried individuals had killed themselves in 2019, whereas 22 government employees had become victims of suicide in the city. Of the professionals and salaried people who ended their lives, 179 worked in the private sector. In addition, 279 self-employed people had ended their lives in the city

last year.

Among all the people who had ended their lives last year, as per the NCRB report, 816 were unmarried and 1,435 were married whereas the marital status of 121 people was unknown.

According to data, 158 suicide victims were uneducated. 273 studied up to class 5 and 409 studied up to class 8. "644 had studied till class 10, 541 till class 12, 26 were diploma or certificate holders, 117 were graduates and above, 10 were professionals and in 348 cases, their educational status was not known," the data showed.

Dr Nand Kumar, Professor of Psychiatry at AIIMS here said people in metropolitan and urban areas are deprived of social connectivity and social coherence due to various reasons. Even the family connectivity in metro cities has moved from the concept of a nuclear family to individualistic families. "People have a false belief system that he or she is the family (it's my life). This has led to huge emotional deprivation. Further, the lockdown has worsened these conditions due to a misperception of the concept of social distancing. It applies to all sections of the society, including medical professionals," he said.

When asked how increasing suicides can be prevented, Kumar said that emotional connectivity to self, family and society is very important. "Acceptance that one can get emotionally upset and there is no harm in talking to your close one and if required medical professionals," he said.