Family welfare programmes seem to be failing in the state, as most of the suicides in the state are taking place due to family problems. Data by the police reveals that 3,743 people in the state had committed suicide last year because of family problems. 8,490 suicide cases were reported in the state in 2012. Kerala comes third, after Sikkim and Tamil Nadu, for the maximum number of suicides in the country. Kollam, which had the highest number of suicide rate in 2011, came second this year. District-wise, Jabalpur leads the country for maximum suicide deaths.
According to police, 44 per cent of suicide deaths reported in the state were due to family problems. As many as 3,323 persons i.e., 26.3 per cent, committed suicide due to illness. Similarly, 12 cases of family suicides were reported in the state, claiming 28 lives. The highest number of victims were in the age range of 30-44 years.
As many as 2,791 people of this age group had committed suicide in the state.
Around 75.3 per cent of people who ended their lives were married. In 5,629 cases, 66.3 per cent of total suicide cases, people died by hanging. It claimed 84.5 per cent lives in Kochi, 81.8 per cent in Thiruvananthapuram and 80.3 per cent in Kozhikode. Rosakutty Teacher, Chairperson, Kerala Women’s Commission, said this is a result of fading traditional family values.
“People are abandoning the traditional concept of family and this is being reflected in the rising suicide rate due to frozen family relations, extra-marital affairs and immaturity of the new generation,” she said.