Kerala's 5 tribal girl suicides after abuse of vulnerabilities

Thiruvananthapuram: A string of suicides happened in the last four months of 2021 in the Palode and Vithura region of Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala was after the vulnerabilities, and lack of awareness among the dead five young tribal women, including two minors, were exploited by outsiders, The News Minute (TNM) reported.

It was believed that troubled relationships led to the suicides, which had almost similar circumstances, but drugs and sexual exploitation were involved. The girls needed intervention and professionals' help, TNM's report found.

The father of one of the dead minors, Mohanan, told TNM that a month after his daughter's death, she had confessed that she was meeting a boy who uses ganja. Though she told him she never used it, she related having a sweet that contained a drug. Though she promised she would quit the relationship, he found that the relationship continued. Once, she told him that she was in a trap from which she could never escape, he said. The father recounted how his daughter went missing one night and was found sitting at a temple premises. The next day his daughter committed suicide, the father told TNM. The girl's post-mortem report showed traces of drugs inside the body.

The father said they approached Palode police and named the boy Alan Peter. But police took no action for two months, citing lack of evidence and only arrested Alan in January 2022.

Another girl's suicide, the second minor's, was reported mere 10 km away from the first on November 21. The accused in this case was an acquaintance of Alan, Mohanan said and added that if police had taken his daughter's case seriously, the second suicide could have stopped.

The second girl's death was out of issues in her relationship with a person named Syam, and the man was in Alan's gang. Police found evidence that the girl had contacted Syam just before she died.

Before the two minors, a 19-year-old woman, neighbour to one of the minors, committed suicide in September last year. All of them were from the Kanikkar tribal community.

Later on December 3, 2021, and January 10, 2022, two more 19-year-old girls committed suicide in Vithura out of alleged disturbed relationships. The person, who had an affair with one of the two girls, came to her home after her death to clear contact records from her phone, but locals caught him and handed him over to the police. The accused of the other girl's death has not been caught yet.

Thiruvananthapuram Rural Police Superintendent Divya Gopinath told TNM that in two out of three cases of Palode, police have found physical relationships and charged POCSO. Further, abetment to suicide, sections of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act were also added, she said.

Tribal activists told TNM that they had complained about drug usage in the area for a long. Outsiders attract youngsters from the tribal settlements and use them to reach the girls. Parents are now worried about sending girls out for studies since the dead five were educated and skilled. The parents will marry their daughters off, thinking it would be safer than sending them for higher studies, but activists said such a practice would affect the community. One said that youngsters in tribal communities fall for such evil because of their vulnerabilities. They have a lot of insecurities and lack of awareness, and thus they are exploited by outsiders. She added that immediate intervention is needed.