Trends and Reasons of Suicide deaths by Hanging: Analysis of 431 cases autopsied at Medical Teaching Institution in India

The present study is aimed at analyzing the current trends of and reasons of suicidal deaths by hanging so as to identify the areas for intervention. We retrospectively reviewed 431 definite cases of suicidal hanging autopsied at a Medical Teaching Institution in Maharashtra during the period of 1st January 2001 to 31st December 2014. We observed that the majority, 84.3% of victims were of the age group 10–39 years, females outnumbered males among 10–19 years age group, contrary to the predominance of males in all other age groups. The most common place of suicidal hanging was home. The common documented risk factors observed for suicide among married victims were marital disharmony, physical/psychological illnesses, alcohol abuse, dowry dispute and financial stress. While, among unmarried victims the common risk factors were academic problems/failure, domestic strife and physical/psychological illness.