Suicidal Behavior in Police Custody: a Ten Year (2011-2021) Study in the Northern Part of Ghana

Aim: This study aimed to investigate the behavior of suicide in police custody as an independent cause of death, examine the choice of suicide methods, and explore the alleged reasons for incarceration of suicide victims in the northern part of Ghana. We also examined the associations between suicide methods and age, accused crimes and sex. Materials and Methods: Data from the coroners’ archives were collected, focusing on 58 individuals whose deaths were classified as suicides or had an open judgment indicating suicide as the cause of death. The records spanned from 2011 to 2021 and were obtained from the mortuary referral center at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Ghana. Results: Out of the 58 cases of police custody suicides, 49 (84.5 %) were males. The majority of victims (36.2 %) were aged between 25 and 34 years. Suspected murder cases accounted for 48.3 % of the suicides, followed by robbery cases at 25.9 %. Hanging was the most prevalent method of suicide, with 79.3 % of cases, while poisoning followed, accounting for 12.1 % of cases. The Fisher’s exact tests revealed non-significant associations between suicide methods and age groups (p - value = 0.145) and sex (p - value = 0.543), while the Cramer’s V coefficient for accused crimes and suicide method was significant (p - value = 0.042). Conclusion: The study findings on suicides in police custody highlighted a higher incidence among men than women in these settings. The age group of 15 to 34 years had the highest number of suicides in police custody. Most victims in police custody were accused of murder and robbery. Hanging was the predominant method used for suicide. The choice of suicide method was not influenced by the age or sex of the victims, however the association between suicide method and accused crime of victims was significant.