Police suicides: 168 Mumbai cops ended their lives in 10 years.

TOI: Mumbai: Monday, March 25, 2013.

Maharashtra tops the list for police suicides, with 200 cases reported from 2006 to 2011, according to a report by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). Nearly 168 personnel attached to various departments of the Mumbai police ended their lives from 2002 to 2012. Detailed data on police suicides in the city was procured by RTI activist ChetanKothari.

Police officials and mental health experts said often it is not sheer impulse that makes a person to end his/her life. There are several factors, which develop and grow over a period, contribute to the decision. The extreme step comes when a line is crossed and that person is unable to bear the stress, they said.

Police personnel aged 35-45 led the list, with 76 of them ending their lives between 2006 and 2011. Those aged 45-55 came next, with 63 suicides; and 43 personnel aged 25-35 committed suicide.

In 2011, Tamil Nadu reported over 31 suicides, while Maharashtra recorded 27. Still, Maharashtra topped the list with 200, followed by Tamil Nadu (127), Haryana (73), Kerala (71), Andhra Pradesh (68) and West Bengal (57) from 2006 to 2011.

City-based psychiatrist Dr Harish Shetty, who organized workshops for the police, found that long working hours, poor working conditions, VIP protection duty, festivals and lack of structural reforms had increased stress levels. Long-term stress causes depression and suicide, he explained. Regular screening for mental health problems during a physical check-up is a must, he felt. "During the workshop, I found that there is an increase in personnel committing suicide in India. Depression across age groups in the force is not easily identified and fixed early, which leads to the taking of drastic steps, not to forget easy availability of lethal weapons," said Dr Shetty.