According to the National Crime Records Bureau, India registered over 1.53 lakh cases of suicide in 2020 — 418 per day. This amounts to a suicide mortality rate per lakh of population of 11.3 in 2020 as compared to 10.4 in 2019.
This is the highest number of suicides in the country in a decade and the highest in the world.
For every death by suicide in India, there are more than 200 people with suicidal thoughts and behavior, and more than 15 suicide attempts.
Suicide is the largest public health crisis that the world is facing and in India suicide is now the leading cause of death between the ages 15 to 39. And for some reason, we still don’t talk about it.
In order to understand this mental illness better and to create awareness, CNBC-TV18 spoke to Dr Soumitra Pathare, Director at Centre for Mental Health Law & Policy; and Dr Nitesh Dave, Founder & Managing Trustee of Mitram Foundation.
Watch video for more.