KOLLAM

STANDS 2^ND IN SUICIDES IN COUNTRY

Kollam is ranked second among Indian cities for having the highest rate of suicides, according to the National Crime Records Bureau’s statistics. As many as 450 people killed themselves in Kollam in the year gone by, accounting for 2.4 per cent of the total suicides in IndiaThe statistics also say that suicides in Kollam were committed at a rate of 40.5 per lakh people. Kollam is ranked only behind Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh where the rate of suicides is 45.1 per lakh people.Kollam had gained this dubious distinction in 2011 too when the district was ranked first among 52 major cities. The suicide rate in the city was 39.3 per lakh people in 2011 with 430 suicides.The state’s Home Department had initiated steps to start a counselling centre, Prathyasha, in Kollam in 2010 in response to the district’s rising suicide rate. A toll-free number was also launched along with the centre, which was then inaugurated by then Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan. However, it has remained a non-starter.

Thiruvananthapuram is ranked second in Kerala on the suicide rate charts with 20.2 suicides per lakh people. As many as 341 people committed suicide in Thiruvananthapuram city in 2011, while Kochi and Kozhikode witnessed 226 and 249 suicides. The rate of suicides at Kochi and Kozhikode were 10.7 and 12.3 per cent respectively.According to T. Padmakumar, the director of Maithri, a voluntary organisation working to help the suicide prone, family problems have been the main reason for the higher rate of suicides in Kerala. “We could not yet find the reason for the higher number of suicides in Kollam. But family issues are major reasons for suicides. Wayanad used to be the region with the highest  number of suicides. But Wayanad’s figures have come down now,” Padmakumar said.

Prof. John Kurakar