Gujarat takes great pride in being a developed state but, going by the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) report for this development comes at a high human cost
By Abdulhafiz Lakhani. Ahmedabad
Close on the heels of 42-year-old man named Saifi Sabbirbhai Dudhiyawala who worked as a disposable paper dish and bowls manufacturer committed suicide along with his family members on Thursday night, in Gujarat’s Dahod city, stress, social and Financial problems push 20 people to take their lives every day in so called vibrant Gujarat, according to NCRB report’s findings
A family of five is know to have committed suicide in Gujarat’s Dahod city. Police are currently trying to find out the reason behind their extreme step, however, they suspect it could be have been triggered by a financial crisis.
“We got information about this incident at 7 am when we found that the entire family of five had poisoned itself. The family comprised of his wife Jenab (38) and three daughters. Two of his daughters are twins aged 16 and the youngest daughter is seven years old,” Paresh Solanki, officiating dy SP Dahod division, told.
According to the report, 20 people committed took their own life every day throughout last year. Disturbingly, this is even after the overall suicide figure fell 1% from the previous year. The total number of suicides in Gujarat has fallen from 7,793 in 2018 to 7,655 in 2019–a difference of fell by 138. However, Ahmedabad and Vadodara–two of the state’s major cities–saw an increase of 8% and 19%, respectively.
What should worry the state, and all of us, is that these deaths span the spectrum of society. Victims of suicide include the employed, the unemployed and the self-employed, as well the married, the unmarried, in addition to those facing issues with finances and social standing. Illness and loosely-defined ‘family problems’ were the two leading causes of suicide in 2019, the NCRB report states. As many as 82 people committed suicide for “non-settlement of marriage”. Among married people, infidelity and infertility are among the reasons listed for the extreme step, as in the inability to handle the pressures of being married. Marriagerelated issues cost 179 males and 117 females their lives.
Some readers may be surprised to know that issues such as divorce and extramarital affairs led more men than women to the brink. For divorce, the divide is 53 males to 31 females, while for extramarital affairs, the break-up is 16 males and six females. Fertility is another point of fatal stress, with 12 males committing suicide due to impotency and 20 females city infertility as the issue. Thirty-three people ended their lives over a fall in social reputation while another 33 persons cited hero worship or ideological stands as causes. Poverty and unemployment led 106 and 219 persons, respectively, to commit suicide.
Former dean of Sociology at Vadodara’s MS (Maharaja Sayajirao) University, Prof. PS Chundawat, says that while these suicides can be attributed to a number of reasons, there are two or three that stand out. “First and foremost among these: last year the state witnessed a volatile stock market and economy. This caused a high amount of stress,” he said.
Prof. Chundawat added, “In the past, the traditional social structure which included a close-knit joint family and social circle would act as a buffer and support people in bad times. In the absence of such a group, a person begins to lose the will to fight against hard times.
(www.siyasat.net is Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India based website)
