Bangalore leads in suicide cases

BANGALORE: The suicide by a 24-year-old girl by jumping off Mittal Towers on Tuesday reiterated Bangalore''s status as the suicide capital of India.
According to 1999 statistics, Bangalore leads the other cities in India with a reported 1,938 suicide cases. Mumbai comes second with 1,266 and Chennai third with 1,142 cases. Varanasi has the least with 76 cases.
Contrary to common belief, there are more men than women ending lives in Bangalore.Statistics with the Bangalore City Police revealed that only in the burning category women outnumber men, projecting the pathos of the ever growing dowry menace.
Dr Gururaj G., professor and head, department of epidemiology and Dr Mohan K. Isaac, professor, department of psychiatry, Nimhans, in their study, `Suicides - Beyond Numbers'' say that suicide is one of the four leading causes of mortality, others being natural, accidental and homicidal.
Dr Gururaj told The Times of India that two more Bangalore-specific studies focussing on the risk factors for suicides would be ready in two weeks. The studies are an effort to understand and prevent the rising number of suicides in the city.
In a recent case, the father of a dentist __ who jumped off Barton Centre after her choice of partner was rejected by the family __ filed a case against the boy for monetary settlement. Police sources say families of suicide victims turn bitter instead of learning lessons from the loss.
Grief counsellor Asha from Crest says some of the calls received at the centre come from people with suicidal tendencies. Experts who work in suicide prevention activity rue the fact that there is little understanding of the magnitude of the problem of suicidal behaviour which includes, ideation, attempts and completion.
According to the Nimhans study conducted in 2001, nearly 68 per cent of individuals who attempted suicide did not leave any clues nor inform anybody. Seventeen per cent of individuals intimated family or friends about their act, while relatives suspected suicide in 20 per cent of men and 12 per cent of women. Only four per cent left written chits. Interestingly, 17 per cent of care givers revealed that they had some suspicion about the person, two to four weeks prior to the act.