Aizawl: Around nine persons on an average committed suicide every month in Mizoram till June this year, with depression being the main reason for the deaths, an Aizawl-based NGO said today.
NGO New Life Charity Society (NELICS) chairman Dr Zawmsanga Sailo said they have arrived at this figure from the fact that at least 52 people have killed themselves in the state during the six months between January and June.
Of the 52, 19 were women, Sailo said describing the high rate of suicidal deaths as alarming as the population of the state was barely 10 lakh.
The oldest person to commit suicide during the period was 63 while the youngest person was 13 years, he said.
Depression was the main reason for the suicides, he said.
Deeper involvement by the churches and civil societies and better relations between parents and youths could bring down suicides and suicidal tendency in the Mizo society, Sailo said.