DHAKA, Bangladesh

A total of 585 students in Bangladesh committed suicide in 2022, according to a report released Friday in the nation’s capital, Dhaka.

Of them, 340 and 106 were school and college students, respectively, while 85 were university and 54 madrasa, or Islamic seminary students, the youth-based Aachol Foundation said in the survey prepared based on reports in leading newspapers.

Researchers collected information from more than 150 national and local newspapers as well as online portals.

“Suicide is the name of a silent parasite in society. It is gripping the youth in its lethal tentacles with every passing day,” according to the survey, “Suicidal Tendency among Students; Which Way to Look for the Solution?”

The survey underlined that suicide is increasing at a “contagious rate among students at all academic levels,” from school-goers to university students.

“The alarming number of suicides by the school and college-going students from the combined data prompts us to review the reasons behind the suicide cases," it said.

The survey noted that the Dhaka division has the highest number of school and college students committing suicide, 23.77%, of eight in the country.

It is followed by the southern port city of Chattogram division at 17.27%.

According to gender-based analysis, more females committed suicide, 60.15%, than males.

Students between 13 and 19 years old are most likely to commit suicide and the number in that age group was 405 covering 76.12%.

Among several reasons that emerged for suicide are being emotionally hurt, love affairs, family conflict, depression, psychological problems, financial problems, harassment and rape or sexual harassment.

In some cases, the reasons behind the suicide are not known, said the survey.

To curb suicide and grow consciousness among students, the survey recommended opening Psychological First Aid Branches in educational institutions.