Indian Journal of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology

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Patterns of Suicidal Deaths in Gulbarga Region of Karnataka


Affiliations
1 S.Nijalingappa Medical College, Navangar Bagalkot 587102, Karnataka, India
2 Forensic Medicine, S.S Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, Davangere 577005, India
     

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Suicide is one of the common causes of unnatural death. As suicide continues to be a major problem, a retrospective and prospective study of sociodemographic profile, reasons for suicide, method of suicide and various trends of suicidal distribution in Gulbarga region was conducted over a period of five years from 1st January 2000 to 31st December 2004 using the data from hospital admission papers, police records, postmortem reports, suicide notes if any and history from the relatives&friends accompanying the deceased. Out of 2528 autopsies conducted in District Hospital of Gulbarga, over a period of 5 years, 464 were suicidal deaths. Majority of the victims were in the age group of 20 to 30 years, the mean age being 30.58 years. Nearly two-third of the victim were from rural areas. Distribution of suicidal cases showed slight male preponderance, majority of the victims being illiterate and unemployed. Poisoning was the most common modality of suicide followed by hanging and the least being the firearm injury. Chronic illness was the most common reason for suicide. Psychiatric illnesses, financial crisis, harassment by in-laws were the other main reasons for suicide in majority of the cases. Maximum number of suicides occurred at victims' residence.

Keywords

Death, Suicide, Chronic Illness, Poisoning.
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  • Patterns of Suicidal Deaths in Gulbarga Region of Karnataka

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Authors

S. N. Vijayamahantesh
S.Nijalingappa Medical College, Navangar Bagalkot 587102, Karnataka, India
V. Vijayanath
Forensic Medicine, S.S Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, Davangere 577005, India

Abstract


Suicide is one of the common causes of unnatural death. As suicide continues to be a major problem, a retrospective and prospective study of sociodemographic profile, reasons for suicide, method of suicide and various trends of suicidal distribution in Gulbarga region was conducted over a period of five years from 1st January 2000 to 31st December 2004 using the data from hospital admission papers, police records, postmortem reports, suicide notes if any and history from the relatives&friends accompanying the deceased. Out of 2528 autopsies conducted in District Hospital of Gulbarga, over a period of 5 years, 464 were suicidal deaths. Majority of the victims were in the age group of 20 to 30 years, the mean age being 30.58 years. Nearly two-third of the victim were from rural areas. Distribution of suicidal cases showed slight male preponderance, majority of the victims being illiterate and unemployed. Poisoning was the most common modality of suicide followed by hanging and the least being the firearm injury. Chronic illness was the most common reason for suicide. Psychiatric illnesses, financial crisis, harassment by in-laws were the other main reasons for suicide in majority of the cases. Maximum number of suicides occurred at victims' residence.

Keywords


Death, Suicide, Chronic Illness, Poisoning.

References