Common modes of suicides observed

Dr Kailas Zine

Professor and Head, Forensic Medicine, GMC Aurangabad

Hanging is becoming commoner as a mode of suicide in recent years because a rope or cloth, stool and a fan are readily available in the domestic set-up. Earlier, this method was more often used by males. Now, females are also using it more commonly. It is more difficult to procure a poison. Poisoning is more common in farming communities and around the rainy season, when insecticides are more easily available for crops.

This year, so far, we received 217 cases of hanging and 180 victims of poisoning (mostly insecticides) for post-mortem. We did get about 40 cases of drowning too, of whom 10 were reported to be suicidal. Most of the others were considered to be accidental. Similarly, there have been a few cases of falls from heights, that were mostly reported to be accidental. In the past few years, we saw about half a dozen cases of gunfire (shot in the head). However, hanging is the leading mode of suicide nowadays. We hope that the number of cases who come for post-mortem will decrease and more suicides will be prevented.