Gujarat: Jilted love, family fight escalate suicidal tendency

"The stroke of death is as a lovers pinch, Which hurts and is desired," as Shakespeare had famously said in Antony & Cleopatra, we learnt another sad truth today. An institution that is supposed to be the pillar of strength, at times, turns out to be the cause of suicides.

Several city-based counsellors and organizations, who deal with people having suicidal tendencies, said family problems often turns the trigger for people to slip into depression and end their lives. Love, unfortunately, turn out to be on top of the list of reasons.

Nagesh Sood, honorary secretary of Befrienders India, a National Association of Suicide Prevention Centres in India, said the major cause of suicides is strained relationships in families, followed by failure in love and pressure of studies, financial troubles in that order.

"The shift to nuclear families mean people are lonely. They neither have the patience to deal with the frictions of relations nor are they able to confide in anyone. In fact there is not much exchange of feelings happening and the communication is bad. People are not able to resolve their dispute and even minor disagreements," said Sood.

Gujarat has a suicide rate of 11.6%. 7246 people ended their lives in the state in the year 2015, of which 869 did so in Ahmedabad alone. In the state the highest suicide rate is in Rajkot at 29.8% followed by Surat which has a rate of 14.4%. Across the country 27.6% of the total suicides were a result of family problems. In the city highest number of suicides were reported in the 30-45 age group for men while for women it was in the 18-30 age group.

Among the total suicides drowning was one of the most preferred methods of ending one's life. VG Rathod, police inspector of Gaekwad Haveli agrees with Sood's observation of the cause of suicides. "Per se if you see the cases, you will find strain in family relations as the link to many suicides. But if you look at specific relations you will find that often suicide causes are age specific," said Rathod. He said those under 30 often end their life because of failure in love. "For those between 30 and 40 it is invariably family relations. The elderly or those above 40 sometimes take the extreme step due to illness related issues," said Rathod.

TIME TO TAP IT

• In the state the highest suicide rate is in Rajkot at 29.8% followed by Surat which has a rate of 14.4%. Across the country 27.6% of the total suicides were a result of family problems.
   
• In the city highest number of suicides were reported in the 30-45 age group for men while for women it was in the 18-30 age group.