After 150 people committed suicide in the last decade, residents in this backward district are seeking government help to check the trend.
After 150 people committed suicide in the last decade here giving their cluster of hamlets the tag of "suicide panchayat," residents in this backward district are seeking government help to check the trend.
Members of the Valantharavai panchayat say that in the last one year alone ten persons ended their lives. In one particular year, 17 people had committed suicide with most of them over love or illicit affairs.
"We are very much worried by the suicides in our village. Hereafter we are not ready to lose anyone," Selvam, a member of the panchayat, said.
People of panchayat, comprising 25 hamlets with a total population of 12,500.
According to the officials of the District Mental Health Programme, who recently organised a suicide prevention camp in collaboration with the District Headquarters Hospital, reasons for the unnatural deaths included love failure, family disputes, unemployment and poverty.
People in the belt were very sensitive and even a jocular utterance is sometimes taken seriously, said a police officer.
The villagers want the government to take up a comprehensive rehabilitation programme to create livelihood and check the trend.
Chief Psychiatrist of the District Mental Health Programme Dr Periyar Lenin said sensitive people need frequent counselling to build a strong mind that can withstand any shock.
"We should cultivate in them the habit of being humorous, and see wit and satire in ordinary things. In olden days, moral classes and religious lectures helped people to keep a mental balance," said Rajesh, a counsellor.
Absence of adequate employment opportunities for men leaving the women to earn the livelihood often leads to frequent quarrels between couples and subsequent suicides, a study undertaken by the District Mental Health Programme says.
One reason attributed by some residents for the suicides was drinking habit. In at least 30 per cent of cases, the victims were found drunk. At least five persons had ended their lives after facing "false" police cases.
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