Suicide trends in South Delhi: A ten years retrospective study

Two thousands and twelve autopsy cases of suicide received from South Delhi were studied during the 10 year period from Jan 1996 to Dec 2005 at All India Institute of Medical Sciences Delhi. Data was analyzed with regard to the age, sex, methods of suicide, place of suicide and time of year. There were 1265 male (62.9%) and 747 female (37.1%) victims. The age range of the suicide victims was 9 to 87 years with mean age of 28.54 years. Age specific rate of suicide showed that the highest rate of suicide were in age group 21–30 years (44.5%), followed by age group 11–20 years (23.8%). Least common age group was 0–10 years (0.3%). Majority of the methods used by victims were violent i.e. hanging, burning firearms etc. (60.98%) in comparison to non-violent method (39.02%). Most persons (98%) in both sexes preferred an indoor place to commit suicide. An increase in suicide rates have been noticed during spring and summer (37.8%).