Lack of mental health awareness in family units led to death of 324 children in 2020 in Kerala: Govt. committee

Besides a mechanism to track children with vulnerabilities, the panel mooted early identification of warning signs and support to children who are vulnerable.

A government committee has expressed shock at the death of 66 children by suicide in the State during the COVID-19 lockdown between March 25 and July 10, last year, and has called the situation alarming as these under parental or family care. The committee, mandated to study and submit a report into the increasing number of child death by suicide, has recommended an intervention mechanism with primary focus on the family unit. As per State Crime Records Bureau (SCRB) statistics, 53 children died by suicide between January and April 30 this year. In 2020, 324 children died by suicide. This was significantly higher than the 215 deaths by suicides in 2019. In fact, the figure had been coming down — the last time the figure had crossed the 300 mark (330) was in 2014. By 2018, this had reduced to 203.