‘Aiyo’ (or ‘aiyoh’) is an Indian English exclamation included in the Oxford English Dictionary, used to express a wide range of emotions: surprise, distress, regret, pain, pity, or even happiness.
The recent mob lynching in Palakkad and several other disturbing trends in Kerala in 2025 compel us to say ‘AIYO’ — not casually, but as an expression of deep distress and collective shame.
Schools of violence
This year witnessed several crimes in which school students unleashed alarming levels of aggression. A violent clash between two groups of high school students at Thamarassery early this year resulted in the tragic death of a 15-year-old boy.
In another incident, when a teacher confiscated a mobile phone, a teenager had the audacity to threaten the teaching community with dire consequences outside the school. In Thrissur, a 14-year-old boy stabbed a young man to death over a trivial provocation.
Violence and aggression are increasingly being accepted in the minds of children and youth as permissible responses to stress and frustration.
Excessive screen time is restricting the development of healthy life skills and social abilities — crucial protective factors for emotional regulation. The use of synthetic addictive substances may also play a role in some instances.
The models available to children on screen and in real life often sanitise violence. One cannot help but wonder whether the education department’s poster featuring Rangannan and Amban — the aggressive characters from the film ‘Avesham’ — displayed to welcome students to the academic year 2024–2025, inadvertently became an invitation to the schooling of violence.
School teachers find it far more difficult to maintain discipline today than they did a decade ago. Some parents question teachers when disciplinary action is taken, leading to what can be called ‘diplomatic inaction’, even in cases of bullying, violence, or defiance. Teachers fear being labelled ‘child-hostile’.
Parents, teachers, and students must work together for healthy character formation. Positive parenting skills can make a decisive difference.
Justice for women
The past year saw a surge in criminal cases targeting women, highlighting disturbing patterns of intimate partner violence, dowry harassment, and sexual exploitation.
The recent verdict in a high-profile rape case involving films stars has reignited concerns about women’s safety and access to justice.
In another case, a woman had to endure eighteen long months of relentless legal struggle to finally obtain CCTV footage from a police station, which vindicated her claim of being manhandled by a police officer.
We have seen instances where sexual perpetrators roam free, employing gimmicks to proclaim innocence, while victims are forced into hiding, fearing character assassination. Cyberattacks on survivors and relentless victim-blaming starkly reveal the challenges women face.
Do the events of 2025 encourage a woman to pursue litigation in cases of sexual exploitation? Is our society genuinely survivor-supportive? Let us honestly seek answers to these questions in 2026.
Dowry harassment is another issue often overlooked until it is too late. Women are frequently sent back to abusive marital homes by their families of origin. Several deaths by suicide have been reported. Public outrage and heated debates eventually fade, leaving thousands of women to suffer in silence.
In most atrocities faced by women at the hands of husbands or in-laws, there is often pressure from their own families to return to toxic marriages without any meaningful resolution.
How can we blame them, when they are following a social script that demands women preserve the institution of marriage — even when it becomes pathologically hostile to their well-being?
Women’s empowerment goes beyond governance and representation. It must ensure safety, dignity, and justice. Has the 50 per cent reservation for women in local bodies translated into tangible change in combating discrimination and harassment? This year’s incidents highlight the need for a serious audit.
Let no Malayali die by suicide
Suicide data for 2023, released this year, highlights Kerala’s worrying upward trend. The figures are stark:
24 per lakh (2020)
26.9 per lakh (2021)
28.5 per lakh (2022)
30.6 per lakh (2023)
This reflects an annual increase of nearly two per lakh.
Suicides are sometimes highlighted for political mileage, inadvertently normalising or even justifying them. In a state where suicide is emerging as a leading cause of mortality, this must be avoided.
Multiple psychosocial factors contribute to this crisis, underscoring the need for multifaceted interventions and a societal shift towards accessing mental healthcare without stigma.
2026 – Hope unlimited
Kerala’s society possesses the resilience and strength required to initiate meaningful psychosocial corrections and reverse these disturbing trends. Such changes would significantly enhance collective well-being.
Can we aspire to say ‘Aiyo, Kerala, aiyo’ in 2026, not in despair, but as an expression of happiness born out of positive transformation?