224 students committed suicide this year: Report

As many as 224 students, including 117 school children, took their lives over the past eight months this year, according to data revealed by the non-profit Aachol Foundation on Wednesday.

The tally also includes 47 college students, 50 university students and 10 Madrasa students, Aachol Foundation’s activists said at an event citing media reports.

Aachol Foundation hosted the event, with support from and the Human Rights Development Centre (HRDC), at Dhaka Reporters Unity.

At the event, Dr Sayedul Islam Sayed, lead psychiatrist at Aachol, said suicide deaths hit a decade-high of 310 in 2024. In 2025, 403 students, including 190 from schools, took their lives, he added.

Speakers at the event called for stronger prevention measures, increased discussions and reforms in the relevant law that they said criminalises suicide attempts.

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It is worth mentioning that Section 309 of the Penal Code in India and Bangladesh penalizes anyone who attempts to commit suicide and takes any action toward that offense with simple imprisonment for up to one year, a fine, or both.

State Minister for Health and Family Welfare MA Muhit said stigma caused by the law and social pressure remained a major barrier to reporting suicidal tendencies and ultimate deaths. Families often concealed suicides among their children and adolescent members for fear of judgement, he noted.

The state minister called for increasing technology adoption to boost access to counselling services.

Dr Sayedul Islam Sayed suggested university prevention cells, teacher training to identify at-risk students and life-skills education covering resilience, digital wellbeing and help-seeking.

He said depression, family problems, cyberbullying, academic pressure, financial stress, loneliness, gender-based violence, and stigma create suicidal tendencies among children and youths.