Lt Sushmita's suicide inquiry not to outside agency: Pranab

New Delhi, July 27 (UNI) Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee today rejected the demand in the Lok Sabha that the suicide of Lt Sushmita Chakravorty be handed over to an outside agency.

''A Board of Inquiry has already been set up, which is investigating the case.... We cannot hand over the inquiry to an outsider,'' Mr Mukherjee said during Question Hour.

He described as unfortunate the rising cases of suicides in the Armed Forces, and said the suicide was more among women than men.

The total number of suicide cases reported in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006 (till date) in the Army, Navy and Air Force were 120, 116, 119 (which includes 15 suicide attempts in the Army), and 84, respectively.

He said an analysis of the findings of various courts and Boards of Inquiry revealed that, in majority of the cases, suicide was resorted to because of personal and family proplems such as marital discords, medical financial or property issues, extra-marital affairs, and not because of professional or organisational reasons.

He, however, accepted that hard life and long period of absence from the family life could be the main reasons of suicides.

He said several steps had been taken to reduce suicide rates in the Armed Forces.

These include more marriage accommodation for which adequate money had been sanctioned, granting frequent leaves, counselling by psychiatrists and training by religious teachers to reduce stress, and increased formal and informal interaction between senior and junior officers.

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