NEW DELHI: The year 2020, with the onset of the Covid pandemic, witnessed a surge of 15 per cent deaths by suicide in the national capital compared to 2019, revealed an RTI reply by the Delhi Police. The Right To Information (RTI) query filed by The Morning Standard with the Delhi Police had sought for data of deaths by suicide from the years 2018, 2019 and 2020 and till the half of 2021.
As per the Delhi Police replies, which came separately from 11 districts and 6 zones (Kashmere Gate Metro Police, Railway Police, Outer District, Rohini, Airport, Dwarka) when accumulated, showed that in 2020 there were 2,424 cases of deaths by suicide. Based on the RTI replies, the data suggests that there had been 6 deaths by suicide on an average in a single day last year.
The RTI replies found that in 2019, 2,104 people died by suicide, which was 320 cases fewer than 2020. In 2018, it slightly shot up to 2,129. The RTI replies also revealed that till middle of this year, 1,139 people have died by suicide – of which 735 are males and 368 are females. However, the margin between males and females who took the extreme step remained more than 50 per cent in the past three years.
In 2020, as per the RTI replies, male suicides are 131 per cent higher compared to female suicides. While last year, 1,622 men from the national capital lost their lives due to suicide, there were 700 women who took their lives. In 2019, 106 per cent more men died by suicide than women in Delhi — 1,366 were males and 660 were females. In 2018, the gap was 116 per cent – 1,395 men and 654 women died by suicide in the city.
Dr Yatan Balhara, additional professor of psychiatry at AIIMS, said globally women have higher tendency to attempt suicide, but more men take the final step. “In 2020, many lost their jobs, there was a whole lot of uncertainty surrounding career and financial stability. Many men failed to cope up with the pressure. Also, more cases of death by suicide were reported after the lockdown was revoked. Only then, the consequences of the pandemic became clear,” he said.
(If you are having suicidal thoughts, or are worried about a friend or need emotional support, someone is always there to listen. Call Sneha Foundation - 04424640050 (available 24x7) or iCall, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences' helpline - 02225521111, which is available Monday to Saturday from 8 am to 10 pm.)