World Suicide Prevention Day: MP Records 3rd Highest Suicide Cases in Country

�Bhopal: The proposed suicide prevention policy mulled by Madhya Pradesh government is yet to see the light of the day even as the state recorded third highest number of deaths by suicide in the country.

The then medical education minister Vishwas Sarang had announced that the government would declare a suicide prevention policy by September, 2022 to curb the suicide cases Madhya Pradesh.

Mr Sarang’s announcement came in the wake of data released by the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) revealing that Madhya Pradesh had recorded third highest number of suicide cases in the county in 2022 after Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra.

However, the proposed policy is yet to see the light of the day.

A committee has been constituted to frame the policy, a senior officer in the state mental health authority told this newspaper, unwilling to be quoted.

Madhya Pradesh had recorded 15,386 deaths by suicide in 2022 as against around 1.70 lakh deaths by suicide recorded in the country during the period, the NCRB data said.

Among the four metro cities in Madhya Pradesh, Indore recorded highest number of deaths by suicide at 746 in 2022 whereas Bhopal witnessed second highest number of deaths by suicide at 527, the NCRB data has revealed.

Thirty two percent of deaths by suicide in Madhya Pradesh were caused due to family disputes whereas 20 percent deaths by suicide were caused due to prolonged illness, the official data said.

Marital disputes led to 4.8 percent of deaths by suicide, the official record said.

Daily wage earners constituted the largest group which recorded highest number of deaths by suicide at 25.6 percent, as per the official data.

House wives comprised 14.1 percent deaths by suicide whereas students constituted 8.4 percent deaths by suicide.

The unemployed mass, farmers and students constituted 8.4, 6.6 and eight percent of deaths by suicide respectively during the period, the official data has revealed.