Senior police officials expressed concern over the rise in suicide cases in the district at a workshop on ‘Prevention of suicides in Dharwad district’ held at Karnatak University here on Wednesday.
Hubballi-Dharwad Commissioner of Police Pandurang H. Rane and Superintendent of Police Dharmendra Kumar Meena said that though there had been an increase in suicide cases, such incidents had been ignored.
Mr. Meena said that compared with 2015, there had been a 25 per cent increase in the number of crime cases in the district. Of the 421 cases of unnatural deaths, 252 were suicides.
There were 13 cases of murder too. It was strange that in a district like Dharwad, which was considered educationally forward and culturally rich, the number of suicide cases were on the rise, he said. Mr. Rane said that the situation was not different in the twin cities, where on an average 60 persons were ending their lives a year. He said that though suicide was a serious social problem, it failed to get the required attention in the media and society. Media’s role was vital in highlighting the issue and creating awareness against it, he added. Vice-Chancellor Pramod B. Gai, psychiatrist Anand Pandurangi, Vijaylaxmi Amminbhavi, C.A. Somshekharappa, Shobhadevi Patil, S. T. Bagalkoti were present.
