Odisha Capital Sees Another ‘Death By Suicide’ Within 24 Hours

Bhubaneswar: Two cases of alleged death by suicide have been reported in the Odisha capital in the last 24 hours with the latest victim being a 21-year-old girl, who was found hanging inside her house in Chintamaniswar under Laxmisagar police limits on Friday.

According to sources, the girl allegedly took the extreme step after being rebuked by her parents for some unknown reason. While her identity is yet to be ascertained, police have begun an investigation into the matter.

It is pertinent to mention here that almost 24 hours ago a Btech pass-out, identified as RN Niyati Nayak (24), was also found hanging in Railway Colony at Chandrasekharpur. It was suspected that she ended her life over some family dispute.

This comes close on the heels of another incident at Airfield police limits area in Bhubaneswar where a nursing student allegedly hanged herself to death inside her hostel room late on Sunday evening.

In another case, a married woman identified as Subhashree Mohapatra allegedly committed suicide by hanging herself at her house in Shastri Nagar locality of Bhubaneswar on August 31.

Similarly, a software engineer Sweta Kumari was found dead in her apartment on August 21 after allegedly being betrayed by her boyfriend. The cases are still under investigation.

Notably, Odisha has witnessed a marked increase of 20.20 per cent in suicide cases over the last five years. The current suicide rate in is 12.5 per cent against the national average of 12 per cent.

According to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) 2021 report, a total of 5,546 persons ended their lives in 2020. In 2021, the number was 5,651, which is a 2 per cent increase from the previous year. Of the total 5,651 suicidal cases, the number of males is way more than that of females. In 2021, 1,239 and  4,412  females and females committed suicide respectively.