By Our Correspondent, Saptari, Aug. 3: Suicide cases are rising in the Saptari district. As many as 118 people committed suicide in the last year, according to the data.

According to Province-2 Police, a total of 2,118 people committed suicide in the last fiscal year 2020/21. Of them 75 hanged themselves, 42 consumed poison and one jumped into a river.

The number of suicide cases has jumped as compared to the record maintained in earlier years. The district recorded 22 more suicide cases in the last fiscal year than in the previous one.

It recorded 96 suicide cases in the fiscal year 2019/20. Similarly, the district had recorded 88 suicide cases in the fiscal year 2018/19, while the number stood at 83 in 2017/18.

During the last four years, a total of 385 people of the district have committed suicide. According to the police, the number of suicides has increased due to family and economic problems, unemployment, illiteracy, lack of public awareness and social evils.

Dr Diknath Yadav attributed the suicides to the failing economy during the pandemic. The pandemic-induced lockdown has also caused fear and frustration among the public. Because of this, the number of patients with mental illness has increased after the lockdown, he said.

According to Dr Yadav, only those with psychological problems choose the path of suicide. He highlighted the need for public awareness and psychological counselling to reduce the cases of suicide.

"Psychotherapy is the greatest treatment," he said, adding that the number of suicides can be reduced if the treatment is done in consultation with the psychiatrist after the identification of their behavioural problem.