National Crime Records Bureau – Suicide Stats – 2012 (Part 1)

The 2012 data of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) suicide statistics has been released, report titled: Accidental Death and Suicides in India – 2012. The data shows the plight of men in this country. Of the total 1,35,445 suicides around 88,453 were men and 46,992 were women. Suicides by men were 1.9 times more than suicides by women. Suicides by farmers are 11.4% of the total suicides[i] and 1.4% of the total suicides were due to poverty[ii].

Gender Wise Suicides[iii]
Age Group	Upto 14		15-29		30-44
	Men	Women	Men	Women	Men	Women
Total	1,353	1,385	25,942	20,693	31,704	14,456
Classification total (Select)	869	925	15,492	11,940	18,136	7,845
Suspected/Illicit Relation	0	13	221	279	207	181
Cancellation/Non-Settlement of Marriage	0	0	238	267	144	98
Family Problems	141	213	5,462	5,122	7,541	3,703
Love Affairs	26	82	1,506	1,389	441	314
Causes Not Known	305	255	3,843	2,284	4,814	1,565
Other Causes	397	362	4,222	2,599	4,989	1,984

Gender Wise Suicides
Age Group	45-59		60+		Total		Ratio of men to women
	Men	Women	Men	Women	Men	Women
Total	21,217	7,282	8,237	3,176	88,453	46,992	1.9x
Classification total (Select)	11,262	3,733	3,799	1,432	49,558	25,875	1.9x
Suspected/Illicit Relation	74	32	10	1	512	506	1.0x
Cancellation/Non-Settlement of Marriage	28	23	7	5	417	393	1.1x
Family Problems	4,899	1,674	1,494	543	19,537	11,255	1.7x
Love Affairs	49	40	1	1	2,023	1,826	1.1x
Causes Not Known	2,801	917	1,006	386	12,769	5,407	2.4x
Other Causes	3,411	1,047	1,281	496	14,300	6,488	2.2x

On a further analysis of the above table, we can see that men in the age group of 30-44 and 45-59 are 2.2x and 2.9x times more than women suicides in this age group. The reasons for majority of these suicides are family problems and other causes[iv] which account for nearly 60% of the suicides in the above age groups for men.

Another startling fact of gender specific suicides is that in the age group 0-14 years the male and female suicides are nearly equal but male suicides steadily increase as the youth enter gender specific roles which is evident in an increase in suicides for men from the age group 15 onwards. In the age group of 15-29 an increase of 28.3% male suicide are seen, this number jumps to a substantial 124.5% for the 30-44 age group and to 198.3% for the 45-59 age group[v]. This clearly signifies the hard time and misandry men have to go through all their lives. Even after retirement the increase in suicide is about 165% for men.

If we refer to the suicide victims by marital status[vi], over 71% of married men committed suicides, which fell to 3% for widowers, 0.8% for divorcees and 2.3% for separated men[vii]. A startling fact is that married men are 2 times more likely to commit suicides[viii] as compared to married women. This ratio falls drastically in case of divorcees, widowers and separated men.

So, are we living in a Man’s World where it is easy for men…. ? Do we require more gender specific Laws…?

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[i] Page 182 of Accidental Death and Suicides in India – 2012

[ii] Table 2(E) of Accidental Death and Suicides in India – 2012

[iii] Table 2(G) of Accidental Death and Suicides in India – 2012 and Figure 2.6.

[iv] Including Causes not known

[v] As an increase in the ratio of men to women suicides over the 0-14 age group.

[vi] Figure 2.8 of Accidental Death and Suicides in India – 2012

[vii] As a percentage of total male suicides

[viii] Inference made based on the data that 2 times more married men commit suicide

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