(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-12-09 21:01

New Delhi -- A research by the Indian National Crime Records Bureau revealed that there were more than 100,000 suicide cases in India last year, Press Trust of India reported on Sunday.

In 2006, the number of suicides in the country increased by 4, 198 to touch 118,112 but there was a decline in the cases of farmers taking their lives last year.

The statistics revealed that the number of suicides by farmers were 17,060 last year as against 17,131 in 2005.

Two states, West Bengal and Maharashtra, have the highest number of suicides in the country, with West Bengal topped the list with 15,725 suicides, including 6,605 women.

Maharashtra, which topped the list of farmers' suicide with 4, 453 compared with 3,926 in 2005, recorded 15,494 suicides in 2006.

These two states were followed by Andhra Pradesh with 13,276, Tamil Nadu with 12,381, and Karnataka with 12,212.

The national capital Delhi registered 1,492 suicide cases last year.

The main reasons for people taking the extreme step were family problems, failure in love affairs, illness, examination blues and dowry harassment, an official said, adding majority of them took to consuming poison or hanging.