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| Suicide rate drops in Kerala | | | SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, OCT. 16: Latest official input from Thiruvanthapuram: Suicide rate has dropped in Kerala. It is still highest in India. A defining aspect of the social sector in Kerala over the past five years has been the distressing number of farmer suicides.
But there seems to be some reason for cheer, with the latest figures showing that suicide rates are on the decline at least in some districts. More than 1,500 farmers in Kerala are estimated to have taken their lives in the past five years and this should naturally have swelled the overall suicide numbers in the State, but quite to the contrary, signs are being felt of Keralites feeling less inclined to take their lives as a solution to all their problems.
However, it must be remembered that Kerala still has a suicide rate far higher than the national rate. In 2005, while the national rate of suicides was 11.2 per 100,000 population, Kerala's was as high as 27.9 per 100,000 population. This is a marginal increase from the rate of 27.7 per cent in the previous year, with the consolation being that the rate of increase in suicides is slackening.
Interestingly, two districts where suicides have shown a decline are Wayanad and Idukki, the two that have also witnessed a large number of farmers' suicides. The suicide rate in Idukki has dropped from a high of 42.4 in 2004 to 40.25 in 2005. The drop is even more pronounced, if seen against the suicide rate of 51 in 2003 in the district.
Similarly, in Wayanad, the suicide rate has declined from 45 in 2003 to 38.02 in 2005, according to statistics of the State Crimes Record Bureau. In contrast, the capital district of Thiruvananthapuram has a different story to tell. At the State capital, the suicide rate has gone up and in 2005 it stood at 37.
According to the 2005 figures, Kollam district tops in suicide rates in the State, with a worrying rate of 42.39 per 100,000 population. An interesting aspect that observers point out is the likelihood of religion playing a role in keeping suicides in check. In Kerala, Malappuram, a Muslim-dominated district, has consistently shown a low rate of suicides. In 2005, too, the district had the lowest suicide rate of 12.09 while every other district had a rate in excess of 20.
Another mysterious factor about suicides in Kerala is that suicides are higher among married people, as against the global trend of more single persons than married persons committing suicide. Some experts feel that this may be a pointer to the marital stress felt by people in the State.
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