Over 1,000 committed suicide from March to July in Jharkhand: SCRB

Sindri: As many as 1,010 have died by suicide in Jharkhand in just five months (from March to July), as per the records of the state crime records bureau (SCRB).
According to SCRB, five persons committed suicide every day ever since the nationwide lockdown came into force from March 24.
Attributing the surge in suicides to the prevailing situation where one is overwhelmed by the information explosion being disseminated from every media outlet on Covid-19, Dr Pramod Pathak, an expert at stress management in IIT (ISM), Dhanbad, said, “The barrage of information on coronavirus that is being broadcast on print, electronic and social media outlets is taking a toll on people’s mental health. It is leading to paranoia and anxiety among them and coupled with the inability to cope with the change in their daily lifestyles owing to the lockdown, those with a weak willpower are committing suicide.”
His analysis may be correct when one compares the number of suicides to the ones that took place in the last two years. In 2019, 1,646 suicide cases were reported across the state while 1,317 people killed themselves in 2018.
Interestingly, the urban centres of the state, like Dhanbad, East Singhbhum and Ranchi, have recorded the most number of suicides. For instance, from March to July, Dhanbad registered a total of 219 suicides which is about 20% percent of the total cases registered in the state so far. The total number of suicides registered in the district was 444 in 2019 and 457 in 2018.
East Singhbhum recorded 93 suicides within the aforementioned time frame. The district recorded 159 and 154 suicides in 2019 and 2018 respectively. The state capital comes third with 115 cases, an increase from the last two years’ figures — 178 in 2019 and 80 in 2018.
Godda, which has a relatively rural background, saw the least number of suicides. It registered eight cases this year and while in 2019 and in 2018, the district witnessed 13 and four suicides respectively.
While a daily wager in Lodna area of Jharia committed suicide for not getting any work for nearly a week, a gram pradhan’s daughter in Ranchi killed herself for not getting a smartphone to attend her online classes.
Dr Pathak, however, said that the triggering factor for committing suicide is individual-specific and cannot be generalised. “The increased use of social media and nucleated family systems are also acting as catalysts. We need to increase social interaction, besides developing a system of counselling in every part of the state to prevent suicides,” he added.