Rising suicide Rates In Kashmir; What's the reason behind it

Ground Report | New Delhi: Suicide Rates In Kashmir; In Jammu and Kashmir, at least 287 suicide cases were reported from this region in 2020. The figures of accidental deaths and suicides across India in 2020 were revealed by the National Crime Records Bureau of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) which was released earlier in the last week of October.

Suicide Rates In Kashmir

As per the data, 287 suicide cases were registered in Jammu and Kashmir, including 157 males and 130 females, which has an estimated population of 133.4 lakhs. In Srinagar district, a 200 percent increase in the number of suicide cases, 6 cases were reported in 2020 as against 2 in 2019.

NCRB data showed that, in J&K, 29 suicide cases of marriage-related issues were registered and 14 suicide cases related to marriage not settled and one suicide case of bankruptcy or indebtedness Gaya.

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“In J&K, seven suicide cases of dowry-related issues and eight suicides of extramarital affairs were also reported in the year 2020 and 15 suicides of failure in examinations,” the data showed.

According to the data, more than 20 suicide cases due to family problems, five cases of suicide due to illness, and several cases of insanity or mental illness were reported in Jammu and Kashmir in 2020. In social standing, drug abuse and alcohol addiction were reported in Jammu and Kashmir.

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Doctors in Kashmir Valley don’t doubt that more than two decades of warfare have left the locals depressed, fatigued, traumatized, and broken. The rate of suicide has gone up 26-fold, from .5 per 100,000 before the insurgency to 13 per 100,000 now, says Dr. Arshad Hussain, a psychiatrist from the state’s only Psychiatric Diseases Hospital.

Pertinently, the number of suicide cases have gone up in Kashmir valley at an alarming level during the past decade. While the figures revealed by different concerning departments reveal an upward trend, the health experts and psychological experts attribute the escalating nuisance of suicides to the changing social set-up amid lack of mental and emotional support to the victims falling prey to the lethal trend which has claimed thousands of lives and rendered hundreds of families devastated.

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Doctors said that a person commits suicide when he or she reaches the extreme condition of hopelessness. This situation is generally created when a society hankers after materialistic needs.

He said the society in Kashmir is today faced with many issues which strengthened the tendency of suicide among the residents of the valley. Asked if the nearly two-decade turmoil had any role to play in the rising number of suicides, he said an environment that is not congenial for proper physical and psychological growth leads to a decrease in the levels of tolerance among human beings.

According to the report over 20,000 people have attempted suicide during the 14 years of socio-political turmoil in the Valley. About 3,000 of them have died and most of them were in the 16 to 25 age group. (Suicide Rates In Kashmir)

unemployment

According to the Global Burden of Disease Study, mental health/suicide is the top reason for mortality among older adolescent girls. It was India’s tenth-biggest cause of early death in 2016 rising two positions from 12th in 2005. Kashmir has been no exception to the rise.

In Kashmir, it is alleged, suicides are said to have claimed the second-highest number of lives after militancy. While it is estimated that more than 60,000 lives have been lost in the State since militancy erupted in 1988, the suicide toll through the years runs into thousands, it highlighted.

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A doctor at SMHS hospital said, “Persistent conflict between parents can affect a child’s mental health. It hinders the emotional and psychological growth of a child and can impact their ability to form future relationships.” “In extreme cases, they may develop suicidal feelings.”

“If we compare Kashmir to western societies the rate is less, but among Muslim societies, the suicides in Kashmir are very high -the highest, she says. The reasons are turmoil, modernization, unemployment, business failures, etc,” she says. Suicide is haram-prohibited in Islam.

The psychological, social, and financial impact of suicide on the family and society is immeasurable. Jammu & Kashmir is grappling with numerous issues from Insurgency to illiteracy to unemployment and other health-related issues and hence, suicide is accorded low priority in the competition for meager resources.

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