Record 4,531 suicides in Rajasthan last year, family issues top list

JAIPUR: Rajasthan has ranked 12th in the number of suicides in the country. A NCRB report said the state reported 4,531 cases in 2019, up from 4,333 cases in 2018.
The number of suicides per lakh population stands at 5.8%. The report doesn’t give a state-wise data on the reasons for suicides, but officials in the home department said ‘family problems’ tops the list followed by professional reasons .
Last year’s figures is the highest number of suicides that the state has ever seen. In 2014, the state had witnessed 4,459 deaths.
Experts said the numbers are alarming in Rajasthan since ‘distressed farmers’ taking their lives is not high in the state compared to Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh.
Associate professor of sociology, Rajasthan University, Rashmi Jain said the figures might appear it is a uniform problem, but the reasons differ from one state to another. “The state has a feudalistic society where family/community honour is supreme and sacrosanct. Often, we come across news headlines about youngsters committing suicides. If we read the full report to sense that reason, family pressure or alienation for taking a line against their family or society are the big reasons,” said Jain.
Women in general in the state doesn’t enjoy freedom to air her views or taking any stand. “I am sure the rate of women in suicide will be much be higher than other states,” added Jain.
Nationally, 32.4% of the suicides are due to family problems, followed by 17.1% due to illness and 5.6% for drug abuse. Around 10% of the reasons are probably related to youths. Love affairs contribute for about 4.5%, failure in the examination was 2%, unemployment was 25% and professional career problem contributed to 1.2%.
Dr R K Solanki Senior Professor and Unit Head, Department of Psychiatry SMS Medical College, Jaipur says that every suicide is preventable, provided an aware society. "Every day I deal with people who are suffering from acute depression due to various factors. What is common in almost all of them is lack of communication with their near and dear ones. Communication is a two way process, but in ideal conditions. Every person who develops suicidal tendencies leave an impression in various forms. It is up to people around you to notice and to prevent the person from taking such an extreme step," said Solanki. He urged the state to spread awareness on spotting behavioural changes in persons according to their age group and gender to help people around them notice any major change and take preventive measures.
The state has maintained consistency in suicide rates also raises questions on the consecutive state government failing to address the problem. The State doesn't have a centralized system to respond or provide counselling to the vulnerable. The department of psychiatry is all government and private hospital is least visited shows how misinformed the society is.