INDIA, December 12, 2014 (CNN): According to a recent World Health Organization report, India has the highest suicide rate in the world for the 15-to-29 age group. It stands at 35.5 per 100,000 people for 2012, the last year for which numbers are available. Across all age groups, nearly 260,000 people in India killed themselves that year.
Bobby Zachariah, who runs a suicide prevention group, says he blames a breakdown in India’s traditional family structure. “There were big families, there was a lot of support available,” he says. “Nowadays, there is one child in the family,” Zachariah says. “And the kind of parenting styles that were applied to them when they were kids doesn’t apply to their children any more.”
The Indian government took a step toward reducing some of the stigma around suicide this week, making it no longer a crime to attempt it. Officials were acting on a recommendation of a law commission report that said the desire to commit suicide should be seen as a condition needing treatment, not punishment. But in a rapidly developing India, pressures remain high to get good grades and high-paying jobs.