Most suicides in India in 15-29 age group: study

More than half the total suicide deaths in women and 40 per cent of suicide deaths in men in India occur between the ages of 15 and 29, according to a new study on suicide mortality in India due to be published on Friday.

India has one of the highest suicide rates in the world, with the WHO estimating that 1.7 lakh people kill themselves every year. WHO also estimates that about 9 lakh people commit suicide worldwide every year, including 2 lakh in China alone.

The study, the first major epidemiological study of suicide in the country, is due to be published in The Lancet, and aims to quantify suicide mortality in India in 2010.

The study found that about 3 per cent of the surveyed deaths — 2,684 of 95,335 — in individuals aged 15 or older were suicides. Of these, 40 per cent of suicide deaths in men — 45,100 of 1,14,800 — and 56 per cent in women — 40,500 of 72,100 — occurred at ages 15 to 29, the study found.

"Prior to this national survey of deaths, we simply did not know the cause of death of many Indians," Prof Vikram Patel of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who is the lead author of the study, told The Indian Express. Suicide kills nearly as many Indian men aged 15-29 as transportation accidents and nearly as many young women as complications from pregnancy and childbirth, he said.

The report also found that suicide rates are much higher in rural India and nearly 10 times as high in the southern states. Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Maharashtra were the hotspots, according to the study, Patel said. In fact, with the decline in maternal death rates, suicide could soon become the leading cause of death among young women, he added.

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