Death is the ultimate truth as it is one of the rarest events which is certain to happen in life. He who are born will surely die as nobody is immortal. There can be many reasons of death like malnutrition, hunger, disease, injury or accidents, death due to natural calamity etc. One of the other reasons for death is suicide. Suicidal death is a serious concern which is rarely discussed and debated. Death is certain but committing suicide is right or wrong? This question is debatable and is subjective in nature. Needless to say, Suicide is a crime and this crime is not punishable unlike others. Suicidal deaths happen across the globe. In this article, I have tried to cover this burning topic of suicidal deaths.
India is a large country both in terms of area and population and the country had faced and is facing many issues. The question arises whether suicide is an issue? Looking at the suicidal death figures, one can get the glimpse of it. The statistics mentioned in this article is based on the Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India (ADSI) 2015 report published by National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB), Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of India. In fact, suicidal deaths in India is more than 130,000 per year as per the NCRB data. Let’s look at the suicidal deaths from 2011 to 2015 as mentioned in below table:
| Table 1: Suicidal deaths in India | |
| Year | Suicidal Deaths |
| 2011 | 135,585 |
| 2012 | 135,445 |
| 2013 | 134,799 |
| 2014 | 131,666 |
| 2015 | 133,623 |
| Source: Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India (ADSI) 2015 published by National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB), Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India | |
As it can be inferred from the five years data, suicidal deaths in India is more than 130,000 per year. In fact, the average suicidal deaths for the above mentioned five years comes out to be 134,223 per year. Further, calculating the average suicide in a day from 2011-2015, it comes out to be 368 (134,223 / 365 = 368). It means 368 people are committing suicide in India on daily basis. Further, 15 people commit suicide per hour (368/24 = 15).
Breaking it further, incidence of suicidal deaths is not distributed equally throughout the country. Some states have large number of suicidal deaths and some have few. In fact, it is largely concentrated in few states. In the year 2015, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal were top 3 three states in suicides as mentioned in below table:
| Table 2: Top 10 states in suicidal deaths in the year 2015 | ||
| State | Suicidal Deaths | Percentage Share |
| Maharashtra | 16970 | 12.7% |
| Tamil Nadu | 15777 | 11.8% |
| West Bengal | 14602 | 10.9% |
| Karnataka | 10786 | 8.1% |
| Madhya Pradesh | 10293 | 7.7% |
| Telangana | 10140 | 7.6% |
| Kerala | 7692 | 5.8% |
| Gujarat | 7246 | 5.4% |
| Chhattisgarh | 7118 | 5.3% |
| Andhra Pradesh | 6226 | 4.7% |
| Source: Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India (ADSI) 2015 published by National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB), Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India | ||
Maharashtra accounted for 12.7% of suicidal deaths in India in 2015 followed by Tamil Nadu and West Bengal with 11.8% and 10.9% of suicidal deaths respectively. Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh accounted for 8.1% and 7.7% of suicidal deaths respectively. Combining these top five states, they accounted for 51.2% of suicides reported in the country, in 2015, and rest of India reported 48.8% suicides. It is important to note from the above table that Uttar Pradesh which is the most populated state (17% of country’s population) in the country is not in the top 10 list. In fact, Uttar Pradesh had reported comparatively lower percentage share in terms of suicidal deaths, accounting for only 2.9% of the total suicidal deaths in the country in 2015.
Apart from the top states with suicides, let us have a look at the major cities in India where suicidal deaths are in ample amount which is mentioned in below table:
| Table 3: Top 10 Major cities with suicidal deaths in the year 2015 | |
| City | Suicidal Deaths |
| Chennai | 2274 |
| Bengaluru | 1855 |
| Delhi | 1553 |
| Mumbai | 1122 |
| Pune | 873 |
| Ahmedabad | 869 |
| Hyderabad | 728 |
| Surat | 663 |
| Indore | 528 |
| Nagpur | 483 |
| Source: Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India (ADSI) 2015 published by National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB), Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India | |
Chennai heads the top of the list when it comes to suicides in major cities followed by Bengaluru and Delhi. There were 2274 suicides in Chennai in 2015 followed by Bengaluru and Delhi having 1855 and 1553 suicides respectively in 2015. As we know, New Delhi is the capital and Mumbai is the financial capital of India, Chennai can be said as the “Suicidal Capital”, on a lighter note. All the major cities like Chennai, Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai etc have reported more than 1000 suicides in 2015.
The Big Picture
One important characteristic of human being is courage and courage is required many times in life. There are many adventures which people like to do which requires courage. Courage is required in taking tough decisions and tackling unwilling situation. In fact, it is often required to take daring and courageous decisions in life.
When a soldier is fighting with the enemy, he must be fearless and courageous to defend his nation. When a student disqualifies in his exams or job recruitment, he should fight back with proper preparations which requires strong determination. Imagine a situation where nothing is in your support (financial, moral or familiar) and you are determined to pursue your goals going against everyone, taking such kind of decision require immense courage. When farmers bow seeds in rainy season, courage is required. There are many famous personalities across the globe who have proved themselves with their strong determination and courageous decisions.
Having said that, what makes people to commit suicide. What makes them to take such decision? It can be poverty, love affairs, unemployment, hunger, financial problem etc. As per the ADSI report, 27.6% of suicidal deaths in 2015 happened due to family problems. The other causes of suicides are mentioned in below table:
| Table 4: Percentage share of Various causes of Suicides during 2015 | |
| Causes | Percentage Share |
| Family Problems | 27.60% |
| Illness | 15.00% |
| Causes not known | 12.10% |
| Marriage related issues | 4.80% |
| Love affairs | 3.00% |
| Bankruptcy or indebtedness | 3.30% |
| Drug Abuse/Addiction | 2.70% |
| Unemployment | 2.00% |
| Failure in Examination | 2.00% |
| Other Causes (Poverty, Physical abuse, Professional/Career problem etc) | 26.20% |
| Source: Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India (ADSI) 2015 published by National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB), Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India | |
From the above table, it can be inferred that family problem was the major cause of suicides in 2015. Tamil Nadu recorded the highest number of suicides due to family problems. There were 7377 suicides due to family problems in Tamil Nadu in the year 2015. The second most cause of suicide is illness accounting for 15% of total suicides. Unemployment and failure in exam accounts for 2% separately.
From the statistics discussed above on number of suicides and causes of suicides, suicide is a major concern, but it is rarely discussed and debated. There are many problems one faces in his life but ending own life solves the problem?
Committing suicide requires enormous courage. Every decision in life requires some courage but committing suicide requires the most. Ending one’s own life is not feasible and suicide cannot be the solution of any problem. Think the other way around. If someone has the courage to decide to commit suicide, why can’t that courage should be used to solve the problem? There are some points which I would like to raise…
- Committing suicide requires courage. Why that courage is not used to solve the problems which compels the person to commit suicide?
- Ending one’s life and leaving the family members alone is good?
- Committing suicide is the toughest decision and if someone can take such decision which requires enormous courage, that courage should be used to tackle the situation which compelled the people to commit suicide.
- The person who commits suicide leaves a forever pain to his near and dear ones. The person who commits suicide gets rid of the problem, but his family suffers for long. A void is created which is impossible to fill.
- India, where 368 people and 15 people commit suicide on daily basis and hourly basis respectively, why this issue is not raised and what can be the solution to minimize the same?
What is your take on suicide? Is it justifiable to end own life or that courage should be utilized to solve the issue? While reading this article of mine, some of you may think that I am being philosophical by raising such query but frankly speaking, this is a concern which was in my mind for many years and hence thought of putting before you. In fact, I have raised this issue in one of my previous articles titled “Suicide – Right or wrong?”, the same can be read here.
Please share your views. Would be happy to have insights from all of you on this rarely discussed issue.
– Ashish Kumar
Ashish Vision 