Citation

Laxmanrao C, Nayak BV, Krishnamurty K, Sheikh NA. Indian J. Forensic Med. Pathol. 2019; 12(2): 135-141.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Red Flower Publication)

DOI

10.21088/IJFMP.0974.3383.12219.14

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Suicide is a major public health problem and top three causes of death among youth worldwide. As per WHO, almost around one million people die every year from suicide and almost twenty times more people attempt suicide. Place of Study: Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology at Gandhi Medical College, Musheerabad, Secunderabad, Hyderabad. Study Design: Hospital based cross-sectional study. Material and Method: The materials comprised 100 autopsy cases of suicidal deaths of females of 12 to 24 years ages, out of various autopsies done in our mortuary. Observation and Discussion: The highest numbers of cases were recorded in the 19-24 group i.e. 49 cases (49%). Hanging was the most commonly adopted method for committing suicide i.e. 53% of deaths. The other means adopted for committing suicide in the decreasing order of percentage of deaths are as follows: self-immolation 30% deaths, poisoning 13% deaths, drowning 2% deaths, and fall from height and railway injuries sharing 1% each. As per our findings, in 24% of the death cases, the motive behind the suicide is not known. Three times higher is the suicide death rate amongst women in India in comparison with the rate globally in terms of similar geographical levels of demography index, these highlights the specific needs to understand better the various determinants of suicides among women's of India.

CONCLUSION: Disproportionate high suicide rate amongst young females in south India is a public health crisis. A specific attention is required for suicides among young females in south India, as such suicide ranks and the lead cause of death amongst young adults in country. © Red Flower Publication Pvt. Ltd.

Language: en

Keywords

Females; Autopsy; Suicide death rate