SHRC directive to check effectiveness of State’s suicide prevention drives

Following plaint on high number of suicides among teenagers in Kerala

A complaint pertaining to the high number of suicides among teenagers in the State has prompted the State Human Rights Commission to direct the Social Justice Department to examine the effectiveness of the State government’s suicide prevention initiatives.

The directive came on a complaint filed by human rights activist Ragam Rahim stating that 140 teenagers committed suicide during the period from January to June this year.

Commission chairman Antony Dominic has issued a direction to the Director, Social Justice, to examine and submit a report on the effectiveness of the suicide prevention initiatives for the young rolled out by the government.

Mr. Rahim, in his complaint, had cited the findings of a study by Disha, the commission said on Monday. Domestic disputes, failed love affairs, failure to clear examinations and disputes over mobile phones and two-wheelers have been given as reasons for the suicides.

Capital tops list

Thiruvananthapuram tops the list with 22 suicides among youngsters aged between 13 and 18 during the period. Malappuram is second with 20 cases.

The complainant has blamed the ineffectiveness of village child protection councils for the high rate of suicides among youngsters.

On July 9, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan revealed that 66 children below the age of 18 had committed suicide in the State till then since March 25. The government had formed a committee headed by R. Sreelekha, DGP (Fire and Rescue Services), to study the issue, Mr. Vijayan had said.