NCJ Number
227722
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 54 Issue: 4 Dated: July 2009 Pages: 938-942
Date Published
July 2009
Length
5 pages
Annotation
A 4-year retrospective study from January 2000 to December 2003 was conducted in order to identify the favored methods used in completed suicides among males and females in the west coastal region of India.
Abstract
The study found that hanging and poisoning were the two preferred methods of committing suicide among both males and females in this region of India. Females resorted to hanging as a method of suicide at a relatively younger age than men. The major gender difference regarding preference for a suicide method was ritual self-immolation. This method was four times more prevalent in females compared to males. Ritual self-immolation has long been practiced in India. In the past, the practice was related to the act of Sati, which was a custom followed in ancient India in which the widow would ritually immolate herself in the funeral pyre of her departed husband. Currently, self-immolation is more commonly associated with dowry disputes between the bride's and groom's families. Self-immolation is a violent method in which death depends on total body surface area being involved in burn injuries. Studies in India have reported that burns that involve over 40 percent of the body's surface result in 80 percent mortality, and 100 percent mortality has been reported in patients who have burns over 70 percent of their bodies. Among females, younger females resorted to hanging compared to older females, who preferred drowning. In this region of India, availability, accessibility, popularity, and social acceptability are apparently the major determinants in the choice of method among both males and females, without regard to the characteristics related to violence and lethality. During the study period, 539 cases of suicidal deaths were autopsied (350 males and 189 females). 4 tables, 1 figure and 50 references