VIJAYAWADA: With over 12 reported suicide pacts costing 34 lives since the pandemic, such instances are on the rise across Andhra Pradesh.
From financial losses to fear of contracting Covid-19, the pandemic has played a major role in destroying families in the state. The most recent one was reported five days ago in East Godavari district where a couple and their two children jumped into the Godavari river.
Prior to that, another family of four ended their lives by consuming poison in Kurnool town on June 23.
In the first instance, financial struggle and the family dispute was cited as the major reason behind the extreme step. In the second, fear of contracting Covid-19 pushed them to end their lives. Since the start of curfew during the second wave of Covid-19 from April till now, five pact suicides resulting in 16 lives were lost across Andhra Pradesh. These suicides were reported from Kurnool, East Godavari, Krishna, Guntur, Vizag and Chittoor districts. Out of the 12 pact suicides since March 2020 to date, seven of them happen to be families while the rest were unmarried couples. Experts point out that Covid-19 has caused many people to despair, especially the elderly ones, as they not only fear the disease but also the financial cost that one must pay to cure it. “Another dimension to the pact suicides in the state is because of the loss of money during Covid-19. Several aspirational entrepreneurs couldn’t digest that the pandemic-induced lockdown had resulted in the loss of income while the cash burn rate for the business still stands,” RV Shekhar, a city-based clinical psychologist told TOI.
Data show that Covid-19 also played a significant role in suicides by unmarried couples as all five of them took place during the lockdown period where they couldn’t meet or interact with each other whilst dealing with family pressures. Experts say mental courage is a prerequisite if such people are to undergo treatment.
