Chennai, Sep 17 (IANS): The latest report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) states that Tamil Nadu witnessed the second highest number of suicides in the country. Maharashtra tops the list with 22,207 suicides, and Tamil Nadu is second with a total of 18,925 suicides.

As per the NCRB data, in 2019 Tamil Nadu reported 13,493 suicides, 16,883 in 2020 and an increase to 18,925 in 2021.

Social activist and counsellor Sneha Abraham of Sradha, an NGO actively involved in the counselling of people with psychological issues, noted that there are various reasons for people to commit suicide. She said that most of the suicides in Tamil Nadu are due to domestic issues, followed by financial distress, chronic disease, failed romance, and poor results in examinations.

The study found that the average age of those who committed suicide due to family issues was between 35 and 40, while those who took their own lives because of failed love affairs were between 18 and 25 years. Students in the average age group of 16 to 21 committed suicide due to poor results and failure to crack competitive exams. Those who took their own life due to financial distress were in the age group of 28 to 45 and those who ended their lives due to chronic illness were 45 to 60.

The number of males was more than women among those who committed suicide in Tamil Nadu.

Sneha Abraham told IANS: "Several rounds of counselling are done to prevent people from committing suicide. However, according to the latest NCRB report, there is a steady increase in the number of suicides in Tamil Nadu. I feel that right from school days, there has to be proper counselling to students to make them mentally strong. Children have to be confident in life and then the tendency to commit suicide will be less."