Farmer suicides and alcohol consumption: An autopsy based medicolegal study of suicide methods and risk factors

The term "suicide" refers to the planned and intentional death of oneself. It is distinctly human, and homicide and suicide are the next three most common causes of unnatural deaths after accidents. ¹Farmer's suicide is mainly attributed to crushing financial pressures on farmers, farm product prices being too low, environmental problems, inadequate irrigation, increased use of chemical fertilizers, crop failure, etc. The current study was conducted at the Medical College in a rural region of central India, where most cases are brought from rural areas. The current study concluded that the majority of incidents affected young adults (20-40 years) who committed suicide by poisoning 72 cases (36.7%). In 16.32% (n=32) of the cases, the farmers had consumed alcohol at the time of the incident. Although 18.88% (n = 37) of the farmers' cases were addicted to alcohol.