In Mohali, youth a suicide risk group, shows police data
A troubling trend has emerged in Mohali, where younger age groups are increasingly vulnerable to suicide.
With suicide prevention taking centre stage in September, underscoring the critical need for effective mental health resources and community support to address the escalating crisis, police data from the last four years (2021-2024) reveals a significant rise in suicides among the younger population in Mohali.
The district recorded a total of 116 deaths by suicides between 2021 and August 31, 2024. Among these, alarmingly, 105 suicides were by people aged 18 to 45 — accounting for 90.5% of all deaths.
Further breakdown shows that people aged 18-30 made up 61 deaths (62.8%), while those aged 30-45 constituted 44 deaths (41.9%), reflecting the higher incidence of suicide among the younger population.
Among the 61 victims aged 18 to 30, a significant majority—41—were women, compared to 20 men. In a stark contrast, within the 30 to 45 age group, men represented a substantial 33 of the 39 victims, while only 11 were women, highlighting a troubling gender disparity in the data.
In the 45-60 age group, a total of six suicides were reported — all by men. Notably only one male senior citizen ended his life in Mohali in the said period, similar to the below 14 age group, where one suicide was reported by a minor girl. The 14-18 age group constituted three suicides, again all by girls.
Family problems, broken relationships and illness were recorded as the main causes of suicides among those below 18 years of age.
Males more vulnerable overall
Supporting the findings of the National Crime Records Bureau of more male suicides in the country, more males took the extreme step in Mohali in comparison to females.
As per the Mohali police data, a total of 60 males (51.7%) died by suicide in the past four years in comparison to 56 females (48.3%).
Dr Preeti Arun from the department of psychiatry at Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, said, “Men generally use more violent approaches, while women often opt for less aggressive methods in suicide attempts. This difference in methods may be linked to men’s greater access to lethal means, which contributes to a higher fatality rate in male suicides.”
According to police, family problems and illness were the major causes of suicides overall, besides domestic disputes, drug abuse, alcoholism, unemployment, broken relationships, failure in examination, professional troubles, property dispute and death of a near one.
Police said among the total female suicides, most of the victims were housewives. Moreover students, government servants and private sector employees also took extreme steps.
Rate of suicide relatively lower in Punjab
Notably, as per the 2022 NCRB report, the rate of suicide in Punjab was eight, much lower than other states and Union territories. The rate of suicide denotes the number of suicides per one lakh population, widely accepted as a standard yardstick for comparison.
While Sikkim reported the highest rate of suicide (43.1) in 2022; Punjab’s capital Chandigarh recorded a 10.7 rate of suicide and Haryana had a 12.6 rate of suicide. The national rate of suicide was 12.4.
