Suicide statistics: One in five committed by a housewife

One in every five suicides in India is committed by a housewife, states an official report released by government recently.

The report, 'Accidental Deaths and Sucides in India 2011', reveals a 0.7% increase in suicides as compared to last year's figure of 134,599.

Giving reasons for most suicides, the report said family problems and illness were major causes, accounting for 24.3 per cent and 19.6 per cent respectively.

Adding to it was love affairs, drug abuse, dowry dispute, bankruptcy and poverty.

The report, released by the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB), points that suicides due to divorce and "illegitimate pregnancy" saw a rise of 54% and 20% respectively in 2011.

West Bengal has reported the highest number of suicides (16,492) followed by Tamil Nadu (15,963), Maharashtra (15,947), Andhra Pradesh (15,077) and Karnataka (12,622).

Southern States Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu including Maharashtra have together accounted for 50.2% of total suicides reported in the country.

Further, the highest number of family suicides cases were reported from Rajasthan (72) followed by Kerala (19), Andhra Pradesh (15) and Madhya Pradesh (14).

According to the NCRB, using poison and hanging were the two most common modes of committing suicide.

In the year 2011, there were total 1,35,585 suicides reported from across the country.