Suicide cases increased in capital city.

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Suicide cases increased in capital city.

         Altogether 417 people died by suicide in the capital city in 2022, which is an alarming 48% jump from 282 suicide cases reported in 2021, according to the commissionerate police data.

    Police said in most cases the victims were in the age group of 25 to 40 and sole breadwinners of their families.Prolonged stress over family discord reportedly triggered the suicide.In some cases, the victims were students,who ended their lives following conflicts with their female friends or failed love affairs.

    According to the statistics,231 suicides were reported in 2017,224 in 2018, in 2019 and 310 in 2020 under the jurisdiction of Bhubaneswar urban police district (UPD).The 48% jump in suicide cases between 2021 and 2022 is so far the biggest in Bhubaneswar in the last several years.

    "We had witnessed a rise in suicide cases in 2020 due to stress among people following job loss and other reasons during the Covid-induced lockdown.Though suicides came down in 2021,it again increased in 2022.Mental is a serious problem.People should not ignore it.We have been raising awareness in the society," deputy commissioner of police Prateek Singh said.

     Suicide by popular Ollywood actor Raimohan Parida,58,Odia TV actor Rashmi Rekha Ojha,23 and BJB autonomous college student Ruchika Mohanty,19 last year turned the spotlight on mental stress taking a toll on human life.However, the conclusive motives of the suicides by Parida and Mohanty are still unknown.

     Mohanty 's family members have been alleging that she hanged herself to death in her hostel due to ragging by some of her seniors.

    Alarmed by the spurt in suicides in Bhubaneswar,the commissionerate police are planning to launch a suicide prevention helpline number. "We have observed that most of the suicides took place late in the night.We plan to operate the helpline 24X7 so that a person in need can seek help at odd hours," a senior police officer said.

    Mental health institute,a centre of excellence of SCB Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack,runs a helpline number 18003457288 to counsel patients suffering from mental illness and having suicidal tendencies. "Not many people are aware of the helpline.So,we hardly receive calls seeking our intervention for suicide prevention," said a clinical psychologist of the helpline Centre.