BENGALURU: In a disturbing trend, Karnataka has topped the chart in the country in the number of suicides due to unemployment in 2019. The numbers have shown an alarming increase since 2016.
Replying to a question in the Lok Sabha on Monday, Union Labour and Employment Minister Bhupendra Yadav revealed the nationwide statistics on suicides due to unemployment. According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, Karnataka recorded 553 unemployment-related suicides in 2019, followed by Maharashtra (452) and Tamil Nadu (251).Karnataka reported 224, 375, and 464 cases in 2016, 2017, and 2018 respectively, showing a steady increase in such cases.
Unemployment-related suicides increased by 24 per cent from 2016 to 2019 in the country. In 2016, it was 2,298, while it increased to 2,851 in 2019.“The NCRB data on suicides due to unemployment may have to be understood cautiously and contextually,” said Professor of Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health & Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS) Dr. Senthil Kumar Reddi. “We do not have the additional information on the background factors because of which these people had lost their employment. Sudden loss of a job or a setback may have been the final straw, not the only reason for them to end their lives,” he added.
Unemployment, he said, can mean that a person may never have been employed or was unable to be re-employed because of multiple reasons ranging from depression, discord in interpersonal relationships, substance abuse, poor coping and problem-solving skills. Dr Reddi said it is important to understand that people may become “vulnerable to suicide because of multiple factors like adverse childhood experiences, substance abuse, adversities during formative years that can lead to depression, impulsivity and aggression,” he said.
No single factor for suicide: Doc
Dr Senthil Kumar Reddi said that suicide cannot be attributed to one single factor alone, but is a result due to the interaction between various factors. Former DG&IGP ST Ramesh said suicide is a sociological issue but the motive for suicides is revealed in the police investigation in 90 per cent of the cases. “Suicides, which are registered as unnatural deaths, will be probed to know the motive behind the extreme step. There may be multiple issues such as poverty, unemployment, health issues, dowry harassment, etc, for a person to end life. In many cases, people leave a suicide note stating the reason why they are ending their lives. It will be considered as the motive, while in other cases the motive will be decided based on inquiry of family members and others.”