http://www.saveindianfamily.org/about-us/siff-news/972-one-married-man-commits-suicide-every-9-min.html
Written by Vineeta Pandey Monday, 22 February 2010 07:47New Delhi:
Family problems, illness, love affairs, bankruptcy identified as top causesIs
the mounting burden of responsibilities driving men to the end of their tether?
Numbers suggest so.In India, one married man commits suicide every nine
minutes. Of the total 1,25,017 cases of suicide in 2008, married men alone
accounted for 57,639. While the number of women taking the extreme step did not
lag far behind, men appeared more vulnerable to mounting social and economic
pressures. In the case of women, the trigger was more emotional and
personal.The overall male-female ratio of suicide victims for the year 2008 was
64:36, according to the latest data of the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB).
The general scene is much grimmer. Suicides in 2008 registered a decadal growth
of 19.4% compared to 1998, the figures say. They also reveal a year-on-year
rise of 1.9% compared to the 2007 numbers
—1,22,637.The overall increase in cases involving women was 355 in two years
while it was 2,187 among men. The increase in suicide among men is six times
more than that of women. "Every nine minutes a married man is committing
suicide in India. Are we ignoring our men too much or burdening them with too
many responsibilities?" said Virag Dhulia of the Save Family Foundation, an
organisation fighting for harassed husbands.The data, however, may not be
revealing the full picture. The number of girls/women attempting suicide is
much higher than that of boys/men. But the suicide rate is higher among the
latter, says clinical psychologist and family therapist, Dr Shelja Sen."The
intensity of depression among women or adolescent girls is different from boys
and men. Attempting to commit suicide often provides relief from depression
among females, it doesn't happen the same way with men. So when they attempt
suicide, it is more serious and harsh, and results
in death," she says.The NCRB data showed youngsters were more susceptible to
suicides. Youths in the age group 15-29 years (35.7%) and lower middle-aged
people in 30-44 age group (34.8%) were the prime groups taking the extreme
step.Family problems (23.8%) and illness (21.9%) were found to be the major
causes of suicides besides love affairs (3.0%), bankruptcy, dowry dispute and
poverty (2.4% each) being other reasons. In fact, suicides due to illness, drug
abuse/addiction and poverty have shown an increasing trend.Family problems,
failure in examination and illness were driving children to the brink. There
were 2,381 cases in this category. Family problems have also driven 10,027
youths (15-29 years), 11,363 lower middle-aged people (30-44 years) and 6,143
upper middle-aged persons (45-59 years) to commit suicide. Suicides among
senior citizens were mainly due to illness.The proportion of female victims was
comparatively more under the heads dowry
dispute (98.1%), illegitimate pregnancy (91.6%), physical abuse (rape, incest,
etc) (72.8%), barrenness/impotency (not having children) (65.5%), divorce
(62.2%), cancellation/non-settlement of marriage (53.5%) and suspected/illicit
relation (50.8%).Housewives (24,367) accounted for 54.8% of female victims and
nearly 19.5% of victims committing suicides. It was observed that 70.3% of the
suicide victims in both categories were married.Among bigger cities, the four
metros — Bengaluru (2,396), Chennai (1,309), Mumbai (1,111) and Delhi (1,107) —
reported higher number of suicides. In fact, these four cities put together
accounted for almost 45% of the total suicides reported from 35 cities, even
though cases in Mumbai had declined marginally.
