Suicide in Jhansi City

The 187 suicide occurring in the city of Jhansi, over a period of two years (1986-87), gave an annual incidence rate of 29 per lakh population. The rate was higher for females (34 per lakh) than for males (24 per lakh). The commonest age group was the third decade (51.3%), followed by the second (28.4%); the average age of males being significantly higher. The married committed suicide more often. Domestic strife (38.3%) and mental illness (23.5%) were the common cause while no causative factor could be discerned in 38.5% of the cases.The two sexes differed significantly with respect to burning and getting run over by train as the preferred method of suicide. Burning was largely a female preserve while getting run over by train was used almost exclusively by males. Poisoning and hanging were used slightly more often by males while drowning was used a bit more frequently by females.