Is Nagpur becoming a suicide city?

NAGPUR: The recent incidents of teenagers ending their lives abruptly have created ripples in the Orange city. The suicides, taking place mostly in
middle-class families, has brought up several issues to the fore. What prods them to such drastic decision often remains shrouded in mystery. In Many cases there are no suicide notes. Ninth-standard student Sagar Patekar had left some vague scribbles in his notebook that hinted about disturbed state of his mind but did not indicate any reason for his decision. Ajni police had to question his teachers after there was an allegation of the boy’s harassment at school. Again, 12-year-old Roshni Dubey’s consuming poison is still a mystery for Kalamna police. Head constable Mithilesh Tripathi of Kalamna said Dubeys could not recall anything that might have justified the teenager’s action. “All they could remember was a light scolding by the elder brother asking the teenager to avoid playing the sun. It is bizarre that teenagers are giving up life on such trivial issue,” said Tripathi himself father of a teenage son. Recently, a MBBS student’s suicide triggered much speculation in the city. Kishore Patil, 24, had consumed poison at a graveyard on April 17. Gittikhadan police are trying to link the suicide with a strange aluminium-lined box with bundles of black paper found in his hostel room. However, they could not find the answer. “Most of the findings suggest that students are giving up on life due to the failure of meeting expectations. The expectations can be one’s own or parents’. Emotional turbulence is the next. In lower economic group, it is addiction and financial stress. Even patients of psychological disorders end life driven by illusions,” said Dr Pradeep Dixit, head of Forensic Department, Government Medical College and Hospital. “It is important that parents are counselled along with the students and teenagers. Teachers should be also trained to identify suicidal tendencies in a student. They spend a lot of time at educational institutions,” said Dixit.