Earlier this month, two sisters, aged 25 and 23, ended their lives at their home in a Rajasthan village, hours before their families had arranged their weddings. They were teachers at the local primary school. The two seem to have followed the footsteps of a long line of young people, especially women, who have ended their lives when faced with being married off against their wishes. Could there be a more tragic or cruel example of the waste of a human life?

Suicidal behaviour is shaped by social and economic conditions, in particular related to poverty, violence and exclusion, rather than individual psychopathology alone. Yet, this knowledge overlooks a major driver of youth suicide in India — the abyss between what young people aspire to and what society permits them to achieve. This may well be the reason for the paradox that the highest suicide rates are observed in the most developed states, notably Tamil Nadu and Kerala, while the lowest rates are reported at the other end of the development spectrum, in Bihar.

Our work in the Million Death Study and data from the National Crime Research Bureau reveal that death by suicide is a........

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