Gujarat has registered an increase of 10.8% in suicide rate in 2007, a recently released report of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) said.
Gujarat has registered an increase of 10.8 per cent in suicide rate in 2007, a recently
released report of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) said.
The report titled 'Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India-2007' said that number of suicides in Gujarat has increased to 5,580 in 2007 from 5,035 in 2006, an increase of
10.8 per cent. The national average was 3.9 per cent.
Gujarat, where 4.6 per cent of the total suicides in the country took place, ranked 8th after Maharashtra, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh, with higher number of suicides.
Family problems topped the list of causes that led to suicides in Gujarat. About 18 per cent suicides, i.e 1,016 suicides, were committed because of family-related problems.
The second reason was due to prolonged illness (15 per cent), followed by insanity (11 per cent). The report further says 198 suicides, that is 3.5 per cent of the total suicides in Gujarat, were committed because of unemployment.
Also, 125 people committed suicide because of poverty in the state where total food grains production increased by 2.4 per cent in the year 2006-07, along with rise in the per capital income.
About 317 people, who were self-employed in farm and agriculture sector, committed suicide. They contributed to nearly 5.7 per cent of the total number of suicides in the
state.
According to the NCRB report, 47 women committed suicide because of dowry disputes. Of the total suicides registered in the state, 40 per cent, that is 2,205 were women, most of them housewives, the report said.
City-based psychiatrist Hansal Bhachech believes that increase in stress levels, lack of social and emotional support in today's fast life had resulted in rising suicide incidents in the state.
"With both the wife and husband working to make ends meet, there has been increase in the stress levels among people. Also, with increase in number of nuclear families,
there is lack of social and emotional support available for individuals," Bhachech said.
According to Bhachech, Gujarat being a progressive state has lot of opportunities, hence people come here in search of better employment.
"In order to compete with this workforce from outside people need to perform better and many a time this may lead to increase in stress levels," Bhachech said, adding that some people succumb to the pressure and take extreme steps.
With regard to the high rate of suicide among housewives, Bhachech said women who stay at home and manage the homes are not appreciated by their family for their contribution.
"Housewives basically do a thankless job. No matter the amount of efforts they put in for managing their house, their work goes unrewarded," he said.
"Moreover, in urban areas, the husband goes off to work and children to school, leaving the woman alone at home. This loneliness and boredom also lead to increase in stress level," he added.
"In cities, when housewives see other women working and earning more for their house, they tend to develop a feeling of inferiority, which again builds up pressure on them. This
could also sometimes lead to family problems resulting in some drastic steps by women," Bhachech added.
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