Of the 3,640 people who committed suicide in
Mumbai between 2013 and 2015, over 91per cent of them, or 3,321 people never attended school or
dropped out of school or college, an RTI query has revealed.
According to the data furnished by the
Mumbai police, 332 of these people never attended school, 607 dropped out of school after their
primary education, 1,016 left school before passing class X or
SSC, 838 completed only their SSC and 528 were college drop-outs.As many as 2,837, or around 80 per cent, were between 15 and 45 years old. Sixty-three per cent of those
committing suicide were men. The most common ways of ending life were hanging (2,600), setting oneself on fire (450) and poison.
For men, the top three reasons for committing suicide were unemployment, drug abuse and fail ing examinations and for women the top three reasons were marriage-related issues, love affairs and failing examinations.
Dr Sagar Mundada, president, Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors, said the Mental Health Care Bill, 2013, which decriminalises suicide attempts, will help in many ways.
“It will remove the stigma attached to suicide and allow anyone who has attempted suicide to be treated immediately,“ he said. Dr Mundada said it would also help improve the data’s accuracy .
September 15, 2016 at 5:00 pm
The number of suicides in Mumbai is appalling and remedial measures must be explored to eradicate the causes of suicides. The youth must be provided employment, health care and measures of reform in education system . Marriage and love related causes for women committing suicides must be addressed by counselling clinics and psychiatry treatment. The medical bill is a positive move in this direction.