Unveiling Student Suicides in the Post‐Pandemic Period: A Retrospective Analysis of Online News Portals in Bangladesh

ABSTRACT

Background and Aims

The post‐COVID‐19 pandemic period has heightened concerns about student mental health and suicide risk in Bangladesh. While studies have explored these issues during the pandemic, post‐pandemic student suicides remain under‐researched. This study investigates the characteristics, methods, and triggering events associated with suicidal behaviors among students in Bangladesh during the post‐pandemic period (2022–2023).

Methods

Data were collected from 150 online newspaper portals in Bangladesh, covering student suicides from 2022 to 2023. Variables such as causes, methods, timing, location, sex, age, and education level were analyzed using Microsoft Excel, SPSS, and ArcGIS.

Results

A total of 984 student suicide cases were identified. Females accounted for 61% of the cases, while males represented 39%, indicating a higher vulnerability among female students. The majority of cases (72.5%) involved students aged 13–19 years, followed by those aged 20–25 years (18.4%). Secondary school students represented 44.9% of the cases, with 7.2% from madrasahs. Hanging was the most common method (79.7%). Major causes included emotional distress (28%), romantic relationship issues (19.5%), academic pressure (8.4%), family problems (8.1%), mental instability (7%), and sexual harassment (3.3%). The Dhaka division reported the highest rate (27.8%) of student suicides. Suicide rates were lowest in August 2022 (4.3%) but spiked in 2023 (12.6%).

Conclusion

This study highlights the significant rise in student suicides in Bangladesh after the pandemic, primarily driven by emotional distress, with females and the 13–19‐year age group being most vulnerable. These findings emphasize the urgent need for gender‐specific mental health interventions to address this growing issue.

Summary

• During the post‐COVID‐19 period, nearly 1000 student suicides occurred in Bangladesh, with over half occurring in 2022. A slight decrease later that year raised concerns about the impacts of the pandemic on students' lives.

• Compared with male students, female students demonstrated a greater prevalence of suicide, which was impacted by a range of triggering factors, such as emotional hardship, academic pressure and failure, personal relationships, family problems, and sexual harassment.

• Teenagers between the ages of 13 and 19 experienced the greatest risk of suicide, emphasizing the necessity for focused interventions and assistance.

• Dhaka, the capital city, has the most elevated incidence of student suicides, potentially attributable to factors such as high population density and lifestyle habits.

• The suggested measures include conducting mental health screenings, incorporating mental health awareness into educational institutions, and building a nationwide suicide surveillance system.

1. Background

Suicide is a major global problem; however, in Bangladesh, it has not been given enough attention in public health programs [1]. Every year, approximately 703,000 individuals die by suicide worldwide [2]. This is why suicide has emerged as a pressing global priority and a matter of public health importance. The inclusion of the suicide rate indicator is now a component of both the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Target 3.4.2 [3] and the World Health Organization's 13th General Program of Work and Mental Health Action by 2030 [4]. For every suicide, there are about 20 others who attempt suicide, and many more who have significant suicidal thoughts. Low‐ and middle‐income nations account for 7% of all suicides worldwide. Suicide can occur at any age and was the fourth‐highest cause of death among 15–29‐year‐olds worldwide in 2019 [5, 6, 7].

In Bangladesh, previous research has reported similar findings and revealed that approximately 61% of total suicide cases were under the age of 30 [8]. Before the COVID‐19 epidemic, a study was undertaken on suicide cases reported in Bangladeshi print media from the beginning of 2018 to June 2019. During that time, 56 Bangladeshi students conducted suicide [6]. At the beginning of the COVID‐19 epidemic, university students in Bangladesh often experienced suicidal thoughts, and study revealed that suicidal thoughts were estimated to be present in 12.8% of university students at the beginning of the COVID‐19 pandemic [9]. An online media report‐based retrospective study conducted by Daria and Islam [10] during the middle of the COVID‐19 pandemic supports the argument that the COVID‐19 pandemic brought an unprecedented natural event to human life, especially the mental health of students, which has been affected by the longer‐term closure of educational institutions. As a result, suicide rates among Bangladeshi students were much higher during the COVID‐19 epidemic than in previous years. When the total number of suicides among Bangladeshi students was compared before and during the COVID‐19 epidemic, it was discovered that the percentage of suicide cases rose approximately threefold during the pandemic [11]. Numerous factors, including severe academic stress, relationship issues, family problems, hopelessness, financial hardship, feelings of social isolation, employment issues, exposure to trauma, alcohol and drug use, and other mental health issues, are considered to play a role in student suicide [12].

The mental health consequences of the COVID‐19 global epidemic might have lasted for an extended period after the outbreak. During the post‐pandemic period, the number of cases of common psychiatric diseases and suicide is projected to rise [13]. The aftermath is hazy and speculative from a social, economic, individual, and public mental health standpoint. Evidence implies that people in general and vulnerable groups see a variable but significant increase in psychological disorders [14, 15].

Recent research confirms the presence of an emotional epidemiological curve, suggesting a substantial likelihood of an increase in the burden of mental well‐being concerns in the post‐pandemic era [16, 17]. Despite suicide being a serious public health concern in Bangladesh, the country has fewer suicide prevention strategies than other countries do. There are still no suicide monitoring systems, national suicide databases, or national suicide prevention programs for the country's general and specialized cohorts [6, 8, 18, 19, 20]. Few epidemiological studies have assessed different aspects of suicidality in the country before and during the COVID‐19 surge [6, 8, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27]. Without a central database, national daily newspapers in Bangladesh publish most of the suicide cases conducted in the country, noting traceable demographic features, techniques, and immediate life circumstances of the victims, which might be a source of information [28, 29]. However, suicides in Bangladesh have been underreported, making comprehensive estimates of the epidemiological features of suicide in the nation impossible. Furthermore, no studies have been conducted in the post‐COVID‐19 era on student suicide in Bangladesh. There was a lack of data during 2022 and 2023, when the situation started to be typical, and educational institutions began taking in‐person classes and examinations. The significance of this study lies in addressing Bangladesh's growing public health issue, which has been aggravated by the COVID‐19 pandemic. The implementation of focused preventive initiatives necessitates the availability of evidence‐based suicide data. Hence, this research aimed to examine the prevalence of suicide, and many aspects associated with student suicide, such as gender, education level, month of occurrence, specific reasons for suicide, methods employed, and others. The findings of this study may provide valuable insights for future researchers, policymakers and public health practitioners in Bangladesh.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. Study Design

Following a retrospective study design, this study gathered information on suicide among Bangladeshi students during the post‐pandemic period (2022–2023) from reports published in online press media. Because of the unavailability of a nationally representative suicide database or surveillance system, suicide cases that are publicized in news portals in Bangladesh were primarily used by previous researchers for retrospective research to collect basic data about victims [8, 30]. This method has also been applied in other South Asian nations without national suicide databases, such as India [31, 32], which has emerged as a source of suicide research during the COVID‐19 pandemic and has allowed for quick evaluation of suicide data [33].

2.2. Data Source

Bangladesh has made progress in various health indicators toward achieving SDG Goal 03; however, there is still a lack of adequate national measures to address the mental vulnerabilities of its population. Notably, the country lacks a comprehensive national suicide repository or monitoring system, as highlighted by Mamun et al. [6] and Mamun and Griffiths [19]. In this context, prior retrospective research has also gathered data from web news portals [6, 8, 28, 29, 34, 35]. To address this gap, the Aachol Foundation of Bangladesh has undertaken the initial step of establishing a suicide database. This database aims to provide valuable insights into the patterns of self‐inflicted deaths among students, thereby enabling the formulation of suitable policies and effective interventions by governmental bodies or other organizations. Consequently, the research and analysis unit of the Aachol Foundation has commenced the process of collecting suicide data from various online news portals spanning the years 2022 and 2023. The Aachol Foundation's team of young researchers has gathered data pertaining to student suicides from over 150 national and local internet news portals that disseminate their news content in the Bangla language.

2.3. Data Collection

This study utilized retrospective data obtained from online press narratives. The data collection group purposefully utilized keywords such as “student suicide,” “suicide,” and “Bangladesh” to search the Google search engine. All accessible internet news reports pertaining to suicide were subsequently systematically compiled and kept in a well‐structured Excel sheet by the members of the group. The tabulation encompassed reports that were dated from January 1, 2022, to December 31, 2023. At the conclusion of each month and the commencement of a new month over a span of 2 years, individuals responsible for data collection utilized Google's search engine to retrieve the previous month's news reports on student suicide. This was achieved by employing specific keywords and filtering options to establish the desired start and end dates for the search results. All hyperlinks to published reports within the designated period were subsequently systematically recorded in the corresponding monthly data sheet in Microsoft Excel, and a PDF copy of the collected news links was also downloaded and saved as evidence to recheck the data. This process facilitated the retrospective analysis of the reports.

2.4. Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria

Owing to the widespread use of Bangla as the primary language, this study exclusively considered Bangla online news portals. Only online articles were utilized to ensure comprehensive geographic coverage and access to specific area‐based news, as all print newspapers also maintain online versions. These portals were selected for their explicit reporting of suicide events involving Bangladeshi citizens, with a particular focus on student suicides occurring within Bangladesh. The inclusion criterion was that the suicide case clearly indicated that the individual was a student and that the event was verified either by medical records or professional testimony, such as statements from law enforcement or medical professionals quoted in the news report. During the data collection and verification processes, any reports that did not explicitly mention the individual as a student or lacked confirmation from an authority were excluded.

2.5. Data Verification Process

Monthly data collection was followed by an independent verification process to identify and eliminate duplicate sources, considering variables such as the victim's name, age, gender, educational institution, and residence. A subsequent cohort conducted follow‐up investigations using the same variables mentioned above and the publication date of the news to identify any overlooked reports and reassessed the credibility and redundancy of the data. After removing duplicates, the data were meticulously entered into an Excel spreadsheet for preservation and analysis.

2.6. Study Variables

The study variables were age group, division, educational level, methods of suicide, reason for suicide, and month of occurrence. Nonetheless, a brief explanation of each variable is provided below.

2.6.1. Age Group

Participants were classified into four categories on the basis of the education level of the country. The first group included those aged 0–12 years, the second group included those aged 13–19 years, and the third group included those aged 20–25 years and 26–30 years.

2.6.2. Division

The country is divided into eight administrative divisions, that is, Dhaka, Barisal, Chattogram, Khulna, Rajshahi, Rangpur, Mymensingh, and Sylhet.

2.6.3. Educational Level

Educational level was classified on the basis of Bangladesh's education system, which includes primary, secondary, higher secondary, undergraduate, and graduate education; madrasah (traditional Islamic education system); and others (including diploma, vocational, and so on).

2.6.4. Methods of Suicide

Based on prior literature, methods of suicide were categorized as hanging, cut off by train, drowning in water, fire on the body, jump from height, intake of poison, and unknown (not reported).

2.6.5. Reasons for Suicide

On the basis of the literature review, the reasons for suicide can be classified into academic pressure and failure (examination failure, unexpected results, fear of failure in an exam, not having the chance to complete a board exam, loss of an admit card, and so on), emotional distress (humiliation, threat, prohibition by teachers or parents and physical assault against cigarettes, accusation of theft, and so on), familial issues (domestic violence, arguments with siblings, forced marriage, and so on), financial crisis, mental health disorders (depression, anxiety), romantic affair sexual harassment, and unknown (not reported).

2.7. Statistical Analysis

Data analysis was conducted via Microsoft Excel 2023 and the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25. Excel was used to gather the data, and further cleaning was performed on the basis of the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The finalized data set was then imported into SPSS, where descriptive statistics, including frequency and percentage, were employed to characterize the data set. Furthermore, inferential statistics, specifically independent t tests, were applied to assess differences in the monthly suicide trends between 2022 and 2023, and p < 0.05 was considered significant. Additionally, ArcGIS was used for the geospatial visualization of suicide cases across different divisions. We followed the STORBE guidelines for ensuring the reporting standard (Appendix A).

2.8. Ethical Approval

Given that the data were sourced from publicly available online news portals, no ethical clearance was needed to conduct the study.

3. Results

Between 2022 and 2023, Bangladesh's daily newspapers reported a total of 984 student suicides. In 2022, immediately following the significant surge of COVID‐19 cases, 532 cases were documented. The incidence slightly decreased in 2023, with 452 cases recorded. Among these, 600 were female students, and 384 were male. The visual analysis of the total data from both years revealed an increase in the suicide rate among female (n = 600, 61%) students compared with that among male (n = 384, 39%) students. The suicide rate of students aged 13–19 years was 72.5% (n = 714), among which the percentage of female students (83.70%) was higher than that of male (65.60%) students in 2022, which continued to be the same in the following year. However, the suicide rate among students aged 20–25 years increased by 8.1% in 2023. Students at the secondary level (n = 442, 44.90%) were more susceptible to dying by suicide, as per the reported data. A total of 19.1% (n = 188) of the students in the higher secondary year group and 7.20% (n = 71) of the Madrasha students died by suicide during those 2 years. In addition, suicide rates among higher secondary students doubled in 2023 (n = 118, 26.10%) compared with 2022 (n = 70, 13.20%). Moreover, the suicide rate among undergraduate graduates in those years was 19.20% (n = 189) in total. A total of 79.9% (n = 784) of the students died by suicide by hanging themselves, which was the most common method of choice among them, leaving intake of poison (n = 137, 13.9%) right after that as a method of suicide for the students. With respect to the reasons behind these suicide cases, emotional distress (n = 276, 28%) was the most common reason for suicide. In fact, there is a progressive increase of 5.80% in the suicide rate from 2022 to 2023 because of emotional distress (Table 1). The prevalence of suicide due to emotional distress among male students has increased from 39.3% (2022) to 44% (2023), whereas the prevalence of suicide has decreased by 4.7% among female students for the same reason. While suicides for other reasons take a backseat, academic pressure and failure continue to surge in 2023, rising to 11.30% from 5.80% (2022) (Table 1), indicating that female (9.7%) students are more likely to be affected by academic pressure and failure than male students are (6.2%) (Table 2). The same emotional distress caused 70.3% (n = 52) of the students aged 1–12 years, 28.8% (n = 206) of the students aged 13–19 years, and 34.4% (n = 152) of the students at the secondary level to die by suicide (Table 3). Mental instability (depression, anxiety) accounted for 31.3% (n = 5) of the suicides in the (26–30) age group. Nevertheless, the rate of suicide for the same reason was approximately half the percentage (16.6%) among students aged 20–25 years. A total of 6.3% of the Madrasha‐going students and 3.6% of the secondary‐level students chose to take their own lives because of sexual harassment (Table 4). With respect to sexual harassment, 3.3% (n = 32) of the students died by suicide for this reason. 19.5% (n = 192) of the suicides among the students occurred due to Romantic affairs, but 1.1% (n = 11) of all the reported suicide cases were identified to have occurred because of financial crises. However, among these identified reasons, the reason behind 2.0% (n = 224) of the suicides remained unknown; 20.7% were female, and 26.0% were male (Table 2). Among the eight divisions, students living in Dhaka divisions (n = 274, 27.80%) were more prone to die by suicide, among which 29.90% were male and 26.50% were female. At the same time, Sylhet was the division with the least number of students dying by suicide in both years (n = 35, 3.60%) (Figures 1 and 2).

Table 1.

Suicide variables of students in Bangladesh reported in the news portals (2022–2023).

Variable	2022	2023	Total
	n (%)	n (%)	n (%)
Gender
Female	321 (60.3)	279 (61.7)	600 (61.0)
Male	211 (39.7)	173 (38.3)	384 (39.0)
Age range
01–12	43 (8.1)	30 (6.6)	73 (7.5)
13–19	406 (76.3)	308 (68.1)	714 (72.5)
20–25	78 (14.7)	103 (22.8)	181 (18.4)
26–30	5 (0.9)	11 (2.5)	16 (1.6)
Educational level
Primary	21 (3.9)	33 (7.3)	54 (5.5)
Secondary	254 (47.7)	188 (41.6)	442 (44.9)
Higher secondary	70 (13.2)	118 (26.1)	188 (19.1)
Undergraduate or graduate	104 (19.5)	85 (18.8)	189 (19.2)
Madrasah	55 (10.3)	16 (3.5)	71 (7.2)
Others	28 (5.4)	12 (2.7)	40 (4.1)
Methods of suicide
Cut off by train	4 (0.8)	3 (0.7)	7 (0.7)
Drowning in water	1 (0.2)	5 (1.1)	6 (0.6)
Fire on the body	2 (0.4)	2 (0.4)	4 (0.4)
Hanging	419 (78.8)	365 (80.8)	784 (79.7)
Intake of poison	83 (15.6)	54 (11.9)	137 (13.9)
Jump from height	15 (2.8)	11 (2.4)	26 (2.6)
Unknown	8 (1.4)	12 (2.7)	20 (2.0)
Reasons of suicide
Academic pressure and failure	31 (5.8)	51 (11.3)	82 (8.4)
Emotional distress	135 (25.4)	141 (31.2)	276 (28)
Familial issues	44 (8.3)	35 (7.7)	79 (8.1)
Financial crisis	9 (1.7)	2 (0.5)	11 (1.1)
Humiliation	12 (2.3)	7 (1.5)	19 (1.9)
Mental instability (depression, anxiety)	29 (5.5)	40 (8.8)	69 (7.0)
Romantic affair	123 (23.0)	69 (15.3)	192 (19.5)
Sexual harassments	20 (3.8)	12 (2.7)	32 (3.3)
Unknown	129 (24.2)	95 (21.0)	224 (22.8)

Table 2.

Gender‐based distribution of reasons of students suicide reported in news portals in Bangladesh in 2022–2023.

Reason	Gender		Total
	Female	Male
	n (%)	n (%)	n (%)
Academic pressure and failure	58 (9.7)	24 (6.2)	82 (8.4)
Emotional distress	161 (13.3)	115 (16.1)	276 (28)
Familial issues	52 (8.6)	27 (7)	79 (8.1)
Financial crisis	6 (1)	5 (1.3)	11 (1.1)
Humiliation	11 (1.8)	8 (2.0)	19 (1.9)
Mental instability (depression, anxiety)	31 (5.2)	38 (9.9)	69 (7.0)
Romantic affair	126 (21.0)	66 (17.2)	192 (19.5)
Sexual harassment	31 (5.2)	1 (0.3)	32 (3.3)
Unknown	124 (20.7)	100 (26.0)	224 (22.8)

Table 3.

Age‐based distribution of reasons of students suicide reported in news portals in Bangladesh in 2022–2023.

Reasons	Age category				Total
	1–12	13–19	20–25	26–30
	n (%)	n (%)	n (%)	n (%)	n (%)
Academic pressure and failure	2 (2.8)	74 (10.4)	5 (2.8)	1 (6.3)	82 (8.4)
Emotional distress	52 (70.3)	206 (28.8)	18 (9.9)	0 (0.0)	276 (28)
Familial issues	3 (4.1)	54 (7.6)	21 (11.6)	1 (6.3)	79 (8.1)
Financial crisis	0 (0.0)	9 (1.3)	2 (1.1)	0 (0.0)	11 (1.1)
Humiliation	1 (1.4)	17 (1.5)	1 (0.6)	0 (0.0)	19 (1.9)
Mental instability (depression, ay)	0 (0.0)	34 (4.8)	30 (16.6)	5 (31.3)	69 (7.0)
Romantic affair	2 (2.7)	149 (20.9)	37 (20.4)	4 (25.0)	192 (19.5)
Sexual harassment	0 (0.0)	30 (4.2)	2 (1.1)	0 (0.0)	32 (3.3)
Unknown	14 (18.9)	140 (19.6)	65 (35.9)	5 (31.3)	224 (22.8)

Table 4.

Education level‐based distribution of reasons of students suicide reported in newspapers in Bangladesh in 2022–2023.

Reason	Education level
	Primary	Secondary	Higher secondary	Undergraduate and graduate	Madrasah	Others	Total
	n (%)	n (%)	n (%)	n (%)	n (%)	n (%)	n (%)
Academic pressure and failure	1 (1.9)	51 (11.6)	22 (11.7)	3 (2.1)	3 (9.9)	1 (2.5)	82 (8.4)
Emotional distress	37 (68.5)	152 (34.4)	38 (20.2)	17 (9)	5 (31.3)	7 (18.5)	276 (27.4)
Familial issues	2 (3.7)	30 (6.8)	22 (11.7)	17 (9)	2 (3.6)	6 (15)	79 (8.1)
Financial crisis	0 (0.0)	7 (1.6)	2 (1.1)	2 (1.1)	0 (0.0)	0 (0.0)	11 (1.1)
Humiliation	1 (1.9)	11 (2.5)	4 (2.1)	1 (0.5)	2 (8.1)	0 (0.0)	19 (1.9)
Mental instability (depression, anxiety)	0 (0.0)	11 (2.5)	17 (9.0)	30 (15.9)	1 (6.3)	6 (15.0)	69 (7.0)
Romantic affair	0 (0.0)	83 (18.8)	47 (25.0)	41 (21.7)	2 (12.5)	11 (27.5)	192 (19.5)
Sexual harassment	2 (3.7)	16 (3.6)	5 (2.7)	3 (1.6)	1 (6.3)	1 (2.5)	32 (3.3)
Unknown	11 (20.4)	81 (18.3)	31 (16.5)	74 (39.2)	5 (31.3)	8 (20.0)	224 (22.8)

Figure 1.

Distribution of student suicide cases across divisions (2022–2023).

Figure 2.

Students' Suicide distribution (%) in different division by gender, Bangladesh (2022–2023).

These incidents of suicide among students are reported all year round, with the month of May experiencing the highest percentage of suicide (12.1%) in 2022, which decreased to 10.60% in the following year. However, the suicide rates in August 2022 were the lowest (4.30%), but this rate spiked dangerously in 2023, reaching 12.60%, which, in fact, was the highest percentage of suicide occurrence in a month in that year. January and December are winter months in Bangladesh, and despite the winter blues, suicide rates in these months in both 2022 and 2023 were significantly lower than those in the other months (Figure 3).

Figure 3.

Monthly students' suicide distribution in Bangladesh in 2022–2023. p  = 0.601 H ₀ : 2022 = 2023; H ₁ : 2022 $\ne$ 2023.

4. Discussion

The COVID‐19 pandemic has led to various forms of loss and instability, significantly increasing suicide rates across different age groups and demographics [36, 37]. The prevalence of suicide, particularly among students and young individuals, has become more frequent and alarming, as indicated by Philip [38], Bridge et al. [39], and Schnitzer et al. [40]. Concurrently, the suicide rate among Bangladeshi students increased during the COVID‐19 pandemic compared with that in previous years [10]. On the basis of our extensive research, no other study has examined the patterns of suicide among students in Bangladesh immediately following the significant surge in COVID‐19 cases.

Additionally, considering the lack of research on suicidal behaviors, our objective was to investigate the specific features, methods, and triggering events associated with suicidal behaviors among students in Bangladesh during the post‐COVID‐19 period. This was accomplished by retrospectively analyzing the content of national newspapers. The findings from our finalized data revealed 984 suicide cases in students from 2022‐‐23, among which the percentage of female students (61%) was higher than that of male students (39%), where the 13‐19‐year age group was identified as having the highest percentage of suicides. In 2022, following the end of the lockdown, educational institutions in Bangladesh resumed offline classes and tests [35]. Moreover, our data revealed that during this period, there was a greater incidence of student suicide (n = 532) than in 2023 (n = 452). However, in our search, we did not find any studies on students' suicide trends in the post‐COVID‐19 period. However, prior studies reported a lower incidence of student suicide before the COVID‐19 pandemic in Bangladesh [6, 8, 28, 29, 34]. Similarly, a study conducted in England and Wales by Gunnell et al. in 2020 revealed that suicide rates among university students before the COVID‐19 pandemic were much lower than those in the overall population.

In contrast, a newspaper content analysis in Bangladesh by Mamun et al. [35] during the COVID‐19 pandemic revealed an upward trend in student suicide during the COVID‐19 pandemic compared with previous periods. Nevertheless, most studies merely examined a limited portion of newspaper content spanning 6 months to 1 year, constituting a noteworthy constraint. We addressed this limitation by conducting a comprehensive analysis of all accessible nationally and locally operated newspapers online, utilizing rigorous searching and screening methodology.

Within the context of gender‐based analysis, the findings revealed a greater incidence of suicide among female students than among male students in the years 2022 and 2023. This result is quite similar to those of studies conducted in the pre‐pandemic period [6, 12, 41] and during the pandemic in the country [35]. Moreover, previous studies have shown that female students are more prone to stress and depression than male students are because of concerns about the loss of educational achievements during school closures amid the COVID‐19 epidemic and the potential impact of COVID‐19 on their families' well‐being [42]. However, the pattern differs from that of global and Western countries in the pre‐pandemic period [15, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48] and during the COVID‐19 pandemic period [49, 50, 51]. Jamshaid et al. [52]. reported that more male students than female students died by suicide in both the pre‐ and post‐pandemic periods in China. Furthermore Mamun and Ullah [33], reported a similar trend to that reported by China in Pakistan. However, research indicates that females are more susceptible to the effects of the COVID‐19 pandemic on mental health [53, 54]. Ryu et al. [55] reported that females experienced increased psychological suffering from social activity constraints during the COVID‐19 pandemic, whereas men faced mostly financial challenges. Nevertheless, the COVID‐19 pandemic has imposed extreme mental pressure on youth, specifically associated with loneliness, academic pressures, familial problems, and so on. Schnitzer et al., [40]. However, there is a dearth of literature on the underlying causes of the high female suicide rate in the country during the pandemic, which necessitates rigorous research on this topic.

During these challenging 2 years, when thousands of students were struggling with life, our data analysis revealed that Dhaka, the capital and a hub of dreams and opportunities for students, had the highest suicide rates in both years, the capital of the country and the lowest in Sylhet city. Previous research on the study group also revealed a similar trend during the COVID‐19 pandemic [35]. Population density is likely a significant factor contributing to Dhaka's status as the most suicide‐prone area for students. Most of the country's prominent educational institutions are based in Dhaka. Furthermore, lifestyle and industry‐based socioeconomic patterns may be significant in this regard. In contrast, as Muslims constitute the majority of the country's population and suicide is prohibited in Islam [56], fewer suicide cases are found in the Sylhet division, often referred to as the religious capital of the country. However, it has the lowest population density.

Nevertheless, the COVID‐19 pandemic has imposed extreme mental pressure on youth, and teenagers in the country seem to have experienced the greatest difficulty in the post‐COVID‐19 pandemic period. Students aged 13–19 years had the highest percentage of reports of having died by suicide both in 2022 and 2023. Importantly, the crosstabulation of gender and age group revealed that the suicide rates among female teenagers were higher than those among male teenage students. The findings from studies among similar study groups before the pandemic [56] and during the pandemic [35] also support the present study results. Moreover, the findings for this age group are consistent with previous research on the general population [8, 18, 30, 34, 57]. All the researchers echoed their concerns, highlighting that the highest suicide rate among this group means the loss of productive citizens in the country.

Similarly, the suicide rate among school‐going students and those at the secondary level was the highest in both years, and university students at the graduate or upper level ranked second. Researchers have also reported equivalent results in pre‐ and during‐pandemic studies of the country [6, 10, 23, 35]. Moreover, in this study, a significant finding was the suicide cases of madrasah (a faith‐based educational institution, which have different education system) students; no other but only one study [10] revealed suicide cases at this education level during the pandemic. Furthermore, the increase in the suicide rate among primary‐level students is a concerning trend for any nation, as highlighted in this study.

Adolescence represents a period marked by significant changes and uncertainties, which often coincide with multifaceted issues such as emotional distress, academic pressure, academic failure, and complications in romantic relationships. Previous retrospective content analysis studies on student suicide conducted before the pandemic (utilizing data from January 2018 to June 2019) [6] and during the pandemic (utilizing data from January 2020 to March 2021) [35] indicated that complications in romantic relationships, academic failure, and academic pressure were the primary contributors to student suicide. However, our present study revealed that during the post‐COVID‐19 period, the highest number of student suicides occurred due to emotional distress triggered by past events (e.g., parental scolding, restrictions on mobile phone usage, and unmet family demands). Nonetheless, romantic relationships ranked as the second most significant factor influencing student suicide rates in our study, while surprisingly, academic failure and pressure were reported as comparatively less influential during the study year. Furthermore, our study revealed that familial issues were more prevalent than mental instability (such as anxiety and depression) in triggering student suicide.

Additionally, female students were found to be more susceptible to all factors except for mental instability (anxiety and depression). In contrast, male students were more likely to die by suicide due to anxiety and depression than females were. However, previous research has indicated that signs of posttraumatic stress disorder, including negative thinking, traumatic events, and heightened energy levels, are more common among females [58]. Further investigation is warranted to delve deeper into these sex differences.

Our analysis revealed that hanging was the most common method of suicide among students, previous research also reported similar results in their 6‐month newspaper content analysis conducted during the COVID‐19 pandemic among students in the country [35]. However, several other students chose deliberate poisoning as a method to die by suicide. Several variables, including the availability of materials to be hung, the agrarian‐based economy, and the time lapse between poisoning and death, can play a significant role in choosing these methods to die by suicide [8, 35].

An analysis of the monthly suicide trends among students in 2022 and 2023 revealed a similar pattern until August of both years. In August 2022, the reported student suicide rate increased, whereas the opposite trend was observed in 2023. An explanation could be the timing of board examinations (e.g., SSC, HSC) and result announcements. However, further investigations could uncover additional causal factors.

5. Strengths and Limitations

Nevertheless, this study provides insights into student suicide during the post‐COVID‐19 pandemic period and compares these data with the pre‐ and pandemic periods. This study also bridges gaps identified in prior research by analyzing all publicly available online news portals to obtain an extensive overview. Furthermore, to the best of our knowledge, this is the very first study to explore students’ suicide cases in the post‐pandemic period of the country. Despite these strengths, this study has several limitations that should be acknowledged. First, the reliance on online news portals for data collection may not provide a fully comprehensive view of suicide cases in Bangladesh, as media coverage can be uneven, particularly in remote or underserved regions where reporters may not be present. Additionally, the lack of a national suicide surveillance system means that many cases could have gone unreported or were not captured by the press, further limiting the data set. Moreover, the stringent inclusion criteria, which require confirmation from medical or law enforcement authorities, may have excluded some relevant cases, thus narrowing the scope of the findings. Finally, this study focuses solely on student suicide, and as such, the results are not representative of the broader population or other groups vulnerable to suicide.

6. Recommendation

The findings of the study yielded several recommendations in response to Bangladesh's alarmingly high rate of student suicide. First, it is crucial to prioritize raising awareness about mental health and providing support services at educational institutions. Given that the suicide rate among female students is higher than that among male students, first, gender‐sensitive measures should be taken to combat the loss of life for the reasons mentioned above. This should later be followed by the implementation of targeted intervention measures to reduce suicide among students of all genders caused by emotional distress, academic pressures, familial crises, romantic relationships, sexual harassment, mental instability, and other reasons. This involves the creation and execution of extensive mental health awareness initiatives (i.e., including mental health‐related content in the national curriculum, appointing resourceful student counselors in educational institutions, monthly or quarterly psychological assessments for students, training on psychological first aid for managing their mental well‐being and implementing a nationwide toll‐free mental health emergency service). Second, the implementation of systems such as an anonymous reporting system, the introduction of policies to safeguard students at educational institutions, and the education of students on different gender‐sensitive issues from time to time can prove to be a great tool in attempts to combat the loss of life because of sexual harassment. Third, comprehensive training for teachers and workshops should be provided for guardians to recognize signs of distress, respond to mental health crises, and foster a supportive environment both in the classroom and at home.

Furthermore, empowering teachers with the ability to identify and address students’ emotional needs is an effective strategy to help reduce increasing suicide rates among teenagers and school‐aged children. In institutions in metropolitan cities where there is a lack of playgrounds and spaces for outdoor activities, authorities should explore alternatives, such as indoor games, recreational activities, cultural involvement, field trips, and camping, to offer a healthier educational environment for students in their transitioning age. Fourth, the growing number of suicides in colleges and universities calls for a tailored intervention policy to educate, counsel, or guide students at this stage of life for a healthier way to address multidimensional issues they must face (i.e., career counseling and psychological and financial support programs). Finally, the government should take effective initiatives to make mental healthcare services available and easily accessible for people in all spheres of life, especially students. Moreover, there is a need for a robust crisis response protocol within educational institutions, including clear procedures for identifying and responding to students in crisis, as well as formulating a nationwide suicide surveillance database to keep an eye on suicide trends and further comprehensive research by incorporating potential variables such as rural–urban disparities, academic performance, family background, and economic status to understand their role in moderating suicide risk, and stakeholders’ satisfaction with the mental health infrastructure could be examined, which can help identify more ways to combat suicide as a nation.

7. Conclusion

This study investigated the prevalence of suicide, specific features, that is, age, gender, education level, and so on, methods employed, and triggering events associated with suicide cases among students in Bangladesh during the post‐COVID‐19 period. This was accomplished by retrospectively analyzing the content of national newspapers. The results revealed that almost thousands (n = 984) of the country's students died by suicide for several reasons, such as emotional distress (28%), romantic affairs (19.5%), and academic pressure and failure (8.4%), which caused the highest number of students to commit suicide. There was a greater percentage of female students than male students (2:1). Moreover, school‐aged and college‐aged teenagers (72.5%) were more likely to die by suicide than any other group. Despite the alarming rise in suicide rates over the years, the urgency of looking deep into the roots of these suicides or the tendency to take enough action to address these issues has not yet been as satisfactory. This study underscores the urgent need for policymakers to take proactive steps in addressing the factors contributing to student suicide. Targeted interventions must be designed with a focus on gender‐sensitive and age‐appropriate mental health support, involving key stakeholders—students, teachers, parents, and authorities. This study highlights the need for systemic changes in mental health services, academic environments, and broader societal support to reduce suicide rates among students.

Author Contributions

Mahfujur Rahman Himel: conceptualization, methodology, data curation, formal analysis, visualization, project administration, writing–original draft, writing–review and editing. Samira Akter Siyam: methodology, investigation, data curation, project administration. Jannatunnahar Tanni: visualization, writing–original draft, writing–review and editing. SK Rafiquzzaman: data curation, project administration, investigation. Md Jane Alam: investigation, data curation. Md Bayzid Hassan: formal analysis, writing–review and editing. Md Jamal Uddin: supervision, writing–review and editing.

Ethics Statement

The data were sourced from publicly available online news portals, no ethical clearance was needed to conduct the study.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Transparency Statement

The corresponding author Md Jamal Uddin affirms that this manuscript is an honest, accurate, and transparent account of the study being reported; that no important aspects of the study have been omitted; and that any discrepancies from the study as planned (and, if relevant, registered) have been explained.

Appendix A.

Table A1.

Table A1.

STROBE statement—Checklist of items that should be included in reports of observational studies.

	Item no.	Recommendation	Page no.
Title and abstract	1	(a) Indicate the study's design with a commonly used term in the title or the abstract	01
		(b) Provide in the abstract an informative and balanced summary of what was done and what was found	03
Introduction
Background/rationale	2	Explain the scientific background and rationale for the investigation being reported	05–06
Objectives	3	State‐specific objectives, including any prespecified hypotheses	06
Methods
Study design	4	Present key elements of study design early in the paper	07
Setting	5	Describe the setting, locations, and relevant dates, including periods of recruitment, exposure, follow‐up, and data collection	07–08
Participants	6	(a) Give the eligibility criteria, and the sources and methods of selection of participants	08
Variables	7	Clearly, define all outcomes, exposures, predictors, potential confounders, and effect modifiers. Give diagnostic criteria, if applicable	08
Data sources/measurement	8*	For each variable of interest, give sources of data and details of methods of assessment (measurement). Describe comparability of assessment methods if there is more than one group	N/A
Bias	9	Describe any efforts to address potential sources of bias	N/A
Study size	10	Explain how the study size was arrived at	07
Quantitative variables	11	Explain how quantitative variables were handled in the analyses. If applicable, describe which groupings were chosen and why	08
Statistical methods	12	(a) Describe all statistical methods, including those used to control for confounding	10
		(b) Describe any methods used to examine subgroups and interactions	N/A
		(c) Explain how missing data were addressed	N/A
		(d) If applicable, describe analytical methods taking account of sampling strategy	N/A
		(e) Describe any sensitivity analyses	N/A
Results
Participants	13*	(a) Report numbers of individuals at each stage of study—for example, numbers potentially eligible, examined for eligibility, confirmed eligible, included in the study, completing follow‐up, and analyzed	10
		(b) Give reasons for nonparticipation at each stage
		(c) Consider the use of a flow diagram
Descriptive data	14*	(a) Give characteristics of study participants (e.g., demographic, clinical, social) and information on exposures and potential confounders	10–11
		(b) Indicate the number of participants with missing data for each variable of interest
Outcome data	15*	Report numbers of outcome events or summary measures	10–11
Main results	16	(a) Give unadjusted estimates and, if applicable, confounder‐adjusted estimates and their precision (e.g., 95% confidence interval). Make clear which confounders were adjusted for and why they were included	N/A
		(b) Report category boundaries when continuous variables were categorized	N/A
		(c) If relevant, consider translating estimates of relative risk into absolute risk for a meaningful time period	N/A
Other analyses	17	Report other analyses done—for example, analyses of subgroups and interactions, and sensitivity analyses
Discussion
Key results	18	Summarize key results with reference to study objectives	14
Limitations	19	Discuss limitations of the study, taking into account sources of potential bias or imprecision. Discuss both direction and magnitude of any potential bias	18
Interpretation	20	Give a cautious overall interpretation of results considering objectives, limitations, multiplicity of analyses, results from similar studies, and other relevant evidence	14–18
Generalizability	21	Discuss the generalizability (external validity) of the study results	14–18
Other information
Funding	22	Give the source of funding and the role of the funders for the present study and, if applicable, for the original study on which the present article is based	20

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.