The rate of suicides in the state, which had been on the downslide since 2002, has begun going up from 2009. The increase, though, is marginal. Gender-wise, more men are ending their lives on their own, and the male-female ratio is 7:3.
The main reasons behind suicides are economic recession, the increase in the number of people returning from the Gulf due to job losses and the crisis in the agriculture sector. It was in 2002 that the state registered the highest number of suicides – 32 persons per lakh.
As per the latest report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), the suicide rate in Kerala in 2011 was 25.3 per lakh, compared to 24.6 in 2010. The national rate of suicide was 11.2 in 2011, marginally lower than the 11.4 reported in 2010. As per the NCRB report, 8,431 people committed suicide in the state in 2011.
“A combination of reasons can be cited for the marginal increase like financial meltdown and the crisis in the agriculture sector,” says Rajesh R. Pillai, administrator of Maithri, an NGO working in suicide prevention. Mental health experts, according to Pillai, say that high alcohol consumption, false pride, growing mental illness, and lack of opportunities to give vent to their emotions are the reasons for this disturbing trend.