Demographic Profiles of Suicidal Deaths in Coastal Odisha

Suicide is the ten leading causes of death for all ages in most of the countries. In some countries, it is among the top three causes of death for people of 15 to 34 years age group. According to WHO, on an average 440, 000 people commit suicide every year around the world (Prevention of Suicide by WHO-1996). This present study was conducted on 320 cases of suicide, the bodies of whom were brought to the mortuary of S.C.B Medical College, Cuttack for autopsy in the period June 2012 to June 2014 with aim and objective to identify the risk factors leading to suicidal behaviour among people of Coastal Odisha. In this study, out of the total 320 victims, 230(71.9%) were male and 90(28.1%) were female. Majority of the victims i.e, 212 (66.3%) were in the age group of 20–39 years. 43.5% male and 64.4% female victims were found married at the time of committing suicide. About 240 (75%) suicide victims were unemployed at the time of death. Family conflict was the precipitating factor in most 210 (65.6%) of the cases.