New Delhi: According to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, suicides in the national capital have escalated by 24.2 per cent in 2020 as compared to 2019. Depression due to the COVID-19 pandemic could be the reason for suicides, as cited by mental health experts and police officers.
The NCRB data also cited, the country saw a rise in the number of suicides by 10 per cent. In 2019, Delhi reported 2,526 cases of suicide, but in 2020 deaths related to suicide went up to 3,142.
Therapists and psychologists stated that scare of the coronavirus, loneliness due to the pandemic has resulted in the rise in suicidal deaths, the Times of India reported.
Suicides in India
Meanwhile, suicides in India increased by 10 per cent from 2019, it rose to an all-time high in the pandemic year of 2020. According to the NCRB report, 1,53,052 cases of suicide have been recorded across the country. Also, the number of students committing suicides increased by 21.20 per cent, the report cited.
The report further mentioned 37,666 suicides and accidental deaths of daily wage workers which constitute the largest share of total suicides in 2020.
The suicide rate has also increased to 11.3 per cent in 2020 as compared to 10.4 per cent in 2019, the NCRB data showed.
The NCRB report on suicide has been divided into nine categories- students, professional/ salaried persons, daily wage earners, retired persons, unemployed persons, self-employed persons, housewives, persons engaging in farming sectors and others.
In the 2020 NCRB data, Tamil Nadu had the highest number of suicides by daily wage earners. 6495 suicidal deaths have been registered in Tamil Nadu followed by 4945 in Madhya Pradesh, 4176 in Maharashtra. Along with that Telangana, Gujarat has also recorded 3831 and 2754 suicidal deaths of daily wage workers respectively.
On a positive note, the report shows accidental deaths came down to 3,74,397 in 2020 as compared to 4,21,014 in 2019. The rate of accidental deaths has also decreased to 27.7 per cent as compared to 31.4 per cent of 2019.