COIMBATORE: Tamil Nadu has earned the dubious distinction of being a State which witnessed the highest number of suicides and fatal deaths in road accidents in the country during 2010.The Accidental Death and Suicides in India (ADSI 2010) report released by the National Crime Records Bureau reveals that Tamil Nadu alone accounted for 12.3% of the 1,35,599 suicides in the country.“TN (12.3%), West Bengal (11.9%), Andhra Pradesh (11.8%), Maharashtra (11.8%) and Karnataka (9.4%) contributed 57.2% of the total suicide victims in the country,” the report said.Incidentally, the southern states along with Maharashtra have contributed to 65.8% of the suicide victims in the age group of 60 years and above. Tamil Nadu has reported significant increase in suicides (16,561) in 2010 over 2009 (14,424) - an increase of 14.8% - followed by Maharashtra (from 14,300 in 2009 to 15,916 in 2010). Bengaluru (1,778), Chennai (1,325), Delhi (1,242) and Mumbai (1,192) - the four cities together have reported almost 40.5% of the total suicides reported from 35 mega cities.Dealing with accidents, the report said that “Tamil Nadu has reported maximum number (64,996) of road accidents accounting for 15.1% of such mishaps in the country. Uttar Pradesh has reported 835 cases (29.4%) of Rail-Road accidents and Maharashtra has reported 8,369 cases (29.6%) of other Railway accidents.” As for the 1,33,938 fatal accidents reported last year, “Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Rajasthan have accounted for 11.5%, 10.5%, 7.1% and 6.8% respectively of total ‘Road Accident’ deaths in the country.”DYING YOUNGThe ADSI 2010 report has brought to light the alarming levels of desperation among young Indians, which is driving them to end their lives. Last year, on a daily average 139 persons aged below 29 years had committed suicide, according to the ‘Accidental Death and Suicide Clock 2010’. Of the 1,35,599 persons who had killed themselves last year, 50,755 of them were aged below 29 years. This included 3,130 children aged below 14 years, indicating that youngsters, who are seen as the nation’s future, are emotionally weak at their primes.
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