1Associate Professor, Department of Forensic Medicine, Government Medical College, Kerala University of Health Sciences, Ernakulam
2Professor, Department of Forensic Medicine, Kochi, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Amrita University, India
Online published on 16 August, 2018.
Kerala has one of the highest suicide rates in India. Prior studies conducted in Thiruvananthapuram in the south of Kerala and Kozhikkode which is a northern district have identified the demographic profile and the methods used for committing suicides. The present study, conducted in Ernakulam district which lies in central Kerala attempted to analyze the methods employed for committing suicide, as well as the age and sex profile of the suicides. The cases autopsied at a teaching hospital in central Kerala during an 18 month period were analyzed using descriptive statistics and ANOVA for this purpose. The study revealed that the female preference of self immolation (P 0.000) is statistically significant. Males on the other hand, showed a significant preference for poisoning (P 0.048). Senior citizens (aged above 60) had a less strong preference for hanging as a method of suicide (P 0.038), but they showed a statistically significant preference for self immolation (P 0.027). Those aged 30 or less showed statistically significant preference for drowning as a method for committing suicide (P 0.011).
Cut Throat, Drowning, Electrocution, Hanging, Jumping, Kerala, Poisoning, Rail Track, Self Immolation, Suicide
