Ever since the pandemic hit last year, more than 12,500 students died by suicide across the country. The rate is said to be more than 34 students a day and many states reported more than one death daily.
As per the latest suicide data released, the number of deaths by suicide saw an increase of more than 21 per cent as compared to 2019. Since 1995, more than 1.8 lakh students have died by suicide and most of them were recorded in 2020. This comes after the year had lesser examination pressure as compared to the rest because many of the students were promoted without exams.
Six states together reported in 2020, around 53% or 6598 deaths by suicide. It includes Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Jharkhand. Meanwhile, the other states and union territories together reported 5928 deaths.
Analysing the trend over the years, the data showed that between 1995 and 1999 the student suicides were reported more than 5.2 per cent with the year 1999 being the worst year and reported 6.6 per cent. Meanwhile, during 2000-2009 the suicide rates stayed below 5%.
Ever since 2012, deaths by suicides have stayed above 6 per cent. The student deaths accounted for 7.4% that is 1.3 lakh total deaths by suicide in 2019. In 2020, total student deaths by suicide were recorded for about 1.5 lakh.
While many of the psychiatrists and experts have stressed the need for a detailed study, they also said that the deaths by suicide could have been triggered by a variety of issues including the Covid 19 pandemic. As it changed the social and economic circumstances along with changes within the family. Followed by the academic challenges arising from the new ways of learning.
