Suicides in India increased by 70 per cent between 2011 and 2021, according to data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).
The grim fact comes under focus as the world observes the World Suicide Prevention Day on Sunday and India grapples with rising student suicides in Rajasthan's Kota and elsehwere.
India's coaching centre hub of Kota has witnessed its highest number of student suicides since 2015 this year. Additionally, two Dalit students at IIT Delhi have also died by suicide in the past of two months.
The NCRB data shows that a total of 13,089 students died by suicide in 2021, marking a significant rise from the 7,696 student suicides reported in 2011, according to a report in Moneycontrol.
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The statistics indicate a consistent upward trajectory in student suicides in India since 2011. Furthermore, the percentage of students among the overall suicide victims in the country has also seen an increase, reaching 8 per cent in 2021, up by 2.3 percentage points since 2011.
Interestingly, there was a noticeable surge in the number and proportion of student suicides in 2020. Although the NCRB's Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India (ADSI) reports do not specifically break down the causes of student suicides, they do provide breakdowns by age groups. Excluding "other" or unknown causes, the most common reasons for suicide among individuals below 18 years of age, as reported in the 2021 ADSI report, were family problems (30 per cent of cases), followed by "love affairs" (14 per cent), illness (13per cent), and "failure in examination" (8 per cent).
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It's worth noting that a significant portion of the "illness" category consisted of cases related to mental health issues, accounting for the majority (58 per cent).
The data from 2011 to 2021 shows that the percentage of suicides attributed to "failure in examination" among all age groups in India had an average value of 1.8 per cent and a median of 1.77 per cent.
In 2021, "failure in examination" was cited as the cause of suicide in 1,673 cases, with 991 male victims and 682 female victims. Notably, there were no transgender suicides attributed to this cause in 2021.
The NCRB's data also provides a breakdown of suicides by city. In 2019, which was the last year of its reports before the shift to online learning due to the pandemic, Kota recorded 136 suicides, with seven of them linked to "failure in examination".
Examining the Gender Gap in Suicides
According to a analysis conducted by News18, suicides among men have surpassed those among women. However, when considering age as a factor, the data indicates that suicide rates among young women under the age of 18 are higher compared to their male counterparts in the same age bracket. Additionally, between 2017 and 2021, 94 cases of suicide were recorded among transgender individuals.
Further examination of the data reveals that the age group of 18 to 30 years saw the highest incidence of suicide within the transgender community, with at least 62 cases reported since 2017.
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Each suicide represents a deeply personal tragedy, prematurely ending an individual's life and leaving a lasting impact on the families, friends, and communities involved.
Approximately 130,000 Suicides Annually in India
Between 2000 and 2021, India recorded a total of 2.816 million suicides, averaging nearly 130,000 suicides per year. Until 2019, the annual suicide count remained below 140,000. However, in 2020 and 2021, there was a notable increase in reported suicide cases. During these two years, more than 400 individuals took their own lives each day, compared to 298 in the year 2000.
These figures reveal that since 1998, India has consistently reported over 100,000 cases of suicide annually, with the year 2021 marking an all-time high of 164,000 suicides. Furthermore, data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) indicates a continuous upward trend in suicide incidents in India since 2017.
