449 suicides in armed forces since 2011: Parrikar

There have been at least 449 suicides in the armed forces since 2011, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar told parliament Friday.

In a written reply to Lok Sabha, the minister said the reasons behind suicide includes occupational hazards and family problems.

"Reasons for such incidents include occupational hazards - long tenures of continuous deployment, family issues, domestic problems, martial discord, perceived grievances, personal issues, mental built, financial problems and inability to withstand stress," Parrikar said.

The highest number were reported from the army, where since 2011, 362 men committed suicide. There were also 10 incidents of fraticide, where a soldier killed his colleague.

In the air force, there were 76 suicides in the same period, and one fraticide, while the navy did not report any fraticides, and had the lowest number of suicides at 11.

"The government has taken various measures to prevent such incidents. Some of these measures include improvement in living and working conditions through provision of better infrastructure and facilities, additional family accommodation, liberalized leave policy, establishing a grievance redressal mechanism, provision of psychological counselling by psychological counsellors and conduct of yoga and meditation as part of unit routine," the minister added.

--Indo-Asian News Servivce

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