Nearly one-third of the suicide cases reported in Andhra Pradesh in 2021 were due to health issues faced by the deceased.
Andhra Pradesh stood third in the country in terms of number of suicides. But suicide due to illness contributed majorly to the total number. In Punjab and Sikkim, the number of suicides due to illness was 44.8% and 44.7% respectively.
The rising number of suicides calls for attention ahead of the World Suicide Prevention Day observed on September 10.
As per the report of the Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India-2021 released recently by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), Andhra Pradesh reported a total of 8,067 suicide deaths, and 2,469 (30.6%) of them were due to illness and 2,133 (26.4%) due to family problems.
The number of suicides was 14.5% more than that in 2020 when 7,043 suicides were reported. In 2019, the number of suicides was 6,465.
However, Andhra Pradesh reported the lowest number of suicides among the southern States. The number of deaths in road accidents in the State was 8,186.
Of the total number of suicides caused by illnesses, 1,779 were due to prolonged illnesses and 519 due to mental illness or insanity. As many as 105 persons ended their life due to paralysis, 47 due to cancer and 19 due to AIDS/STD.
Men were the most affected due to family problems. Out of 2,133 suicides due to family problems, 1,556 were men and 577 women. Also, 75% of the total suicides involved men.
Other major reasons for suicide in the State were bankruptcy (855); drug abuse or alcohol addiction (571); love affair (185); marriage-related (126); poverty (94); death of a dear person (86); property dispute (80); failure in examination (70); unemployment (65); professional / career problems (47); fall in social reputation (47); illicit relation (34); impotence or infertility (26); and others (703). The reason behind 398 suicides was not known.
The suicide rate was 15.3 persons per one lakh population.
