THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Parents of children who died by suicide struggle with guilt and unanswered questions. The trauma changes their lives, and their pain is constant and overwhelming. They ask themselves what they missed and whether they could have done something differently. During this time of deep trauma, they need someone to listen to them, to sit with them, and to offer a shoulder to lean on as they struggle to cope with their loss.
Alappuzha native Maneesh Chealakadan, who had gone through the same pain, is doing exactly that, but in the quietest way. Whenever he comes across a media report on teenage suicide, this Good Samaritan would visit the grief-stricken family and console the parents. The 42-year-old, a bodybuilder and gym trainer, has been reaching out to other distressed parents since the death of his youngest son last July.
His goal is simple: to listen, to sit with them, and to remind them that they are not alone. According to him, a common thread binds most of the families he visited. “In many cases, there was another suicide in the locality in the preceding days, usually someone the child knew very well. This would have been the last straw for the child who was in distress - academic or family problems. Some kids would attempt suicide out of curiosity, like in our case,” he told TNIE.
“My brother, who had some problems with his wife, had hanged himself in our house. My child saw the body on the spot. Some insensitive visitors to our home forced the ten-year-old child to narrate the scene again and again,” he said. Two weeks later, the boy died while imitating the hanging on the towel bar in the bathroom.
If curiosity took the life of his son, different reasons - ranging from academic stress, harassment by teachers to love failures, family problems and petty quarrels with parents are cited as reasons in other cases. The latest incident, reported from Elappully in Palakkad, is a 13-year, who hanged himself in the bathroom of his house.
He was reportedly depressed after his parents denied permission to attend football coaching. Academic stress is perhaps the most common reason. A 12-year-old boy was found hanging at his home in Kannur last year over low marks.
Kerala is witnessing an alarming rise in under-18 suicides as per 2025 data with the police suggesting about one suicide a day. 359 deaths were reported that year, up from the 332 cases in 2024 and 270 in 2023. In 2025, 73 of the victims were below the age of 14 and 286 in the 14-18 age group.
Thiruvananthapuram recorded the highest number of cases, 54, followed by Kollam, 42. Of the total victims, 190 were females and 169 males. Rising incidents of adolescent suicides is to be viewed in the context of the suicide contagion in society, according to Dr Mohan Roy, HoD, Department of Psychiatry, Government MCH, Kollam.