As I returned daily from my duties as an IPS probationer posted in Port Blair, waves of tourists lazily strolling against sorbet skies and azure waters would greet me. But beneath this seemingly perfect picture, the Union Territory silently deals with a staggering suicide rate of 37.

89 per lakh population, more than three times the national average of 12. 4 in 2022.

For a police officer, it seems ironical — when other crimes associated with stress have not yet proliferated on the joy islands, why the high suicide rate? I turned to State Crime Records Bureau data to understand. South Andaman district is the most vulnerable, with a suicide rate of 51.

09, four times above the national average. Occupation-wise, government servants with 10 times the national average suicide rate, and private salaried employees with five times the national average are the most vulnerable.

The most affected age group is 30 to 45, which forms nearly 40% of all suicide cases. Analysis of suicide causation patterns reveals that illness and old age are the leading causes of suicides here, followed by depression and loneliness.

This stands in contrast with the national average data of the National Crime Records Bureau, wherein family problems are the leading cause, accounting for 32. 4% of suicides across India.

Why are people choosing the “escape route”? The field of geographical psychology highlights that isolation and a lack of an “escape route” creates a Kafkaesque scenario in the mind which often ends in the person choosing to end his or her life. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands, with its sparse population of 46 persons per sq. km (Census 2011) inhabiting far-flung islands and only a few direct flights and ships to the mainland, is a case in point.

Society of these islands is a patchwork of local tribals, descendants of freedom fighters, and settlers brought in by the government from Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Bihar, and so on. Intermarriage led to an erosion of traditional bonds of kinship within each group. There is a peculiarly widespread prevalence of extramarital affairs, domestic violence, alcoholism, and drug abuse.

This created unstable households, a breeding ground for mental issues. Post tsunami, the government settled affected families in safer areas, giving them a stipend, monthly ration, and land. The tribal way of life, filled with physical rigours, died.

Divorced from its roots, a society built for toughness even in daily life stands reduced to fragility. Many suicides are even attributable to not getting an iPhone or the latest iPad.

Policy intervention Data-driven policymaking is as good as the data that informs it. The unnatural deaths proforma, which is used to record data of suicide, must record socioeconomic data and risk factors, such as income levels, education level, unemployment, and substance abuse, so that emerging suicide risk patterns and hotspots can be gauged. Data audits at the State Crime Records Bureau must be conducted on lines of financial system audits to prevent misreporting, and maintain data quality.

Inquest and investigating officers must be trained in the art of probing intelligently for underlying emotional, social, or economic causes of the suicide, instead of recording the cause of suicide superficially. Miscategorisation of data by recording staff may be dealt with by redesigning the proforma to incorporate tick-boxes so that data is informative, not misguiding. A dedicated 24×7 suicide surveillance and prevention cell staffed by mental health professionals is a must.

A collaboration may be made with the Directorate of Health Services, NGOs, school authorities, and the Panchayati Raj institutions for the same. Deploying personnel In a society that so easily resorts to suicide, little can be achieved through clinical measures alone.

Targeted outreach programmes are key. For instance, illness and old age being a major cause of suicide necessitates the presence of healthcare professionals at every public outreach function/mela by the district police and administration. Small-scale crowd-funded insurance policies may be launched as a welfare measure.

Short-duration emotional resilience training programmes, anger management courses, and peer support groups, may be incorporated in educational institutions. The suicide problem on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands needs conscious acknowledgement and thoughtful interventions. It is time that the islands, which give many a happy memory to travellers, became a haven for its natives as well.

Those in distress can call the Lifeline Foundation on (033) 24637401/32.