New chat helpline to prevent suicide across India

CHENNAI: SNEHA a suicide prevention volunteer organisation launched live chat facility as a part of their suicide helpline services.

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) latest report quotes 1,64,033 people died by suicide in 2021 in India, said SNEHA in a press release.

The report suggests around 3 million suicide attempts every year in India. In Tamil Nadu suicides have shown a rising trend with 12,659 deaths, an increase of 26% in 2021 compared to 2020, said the press release.

"Cases of suicide in India have increased by 33,000 to 1,64,000 in 2022. We are launching the online chat feature in keeping with the trend of online chatting being a preferred form of communication primarily amongst the youth. A recent survey in India showed that 50% of youngsters preferred chatting over audio calling. We do not want to miss out on that group of people whose first preference is the chat format and want to help those in need among them with the right type of intervention,” said, Lakshmi Vijaykumar, founder, SNEHA.

SNEHA's online chat helpline is available between 10 pm and 1 am now and they hope to extend the service timing shortly to cover more hours. This chat service will be in addition to the existing crisis helpline and email support that SNEHA offers the community, noted the statement.