KOLLAM: There is a famous Malayalam saying that goes like this-"Kollam kandal illam venda"(for the one who has seen Kollam doesn’t need his home anymore). The elderly say that such a saying was to describe the historical tradition of Kollam. However, we mostly hear unpleasant things in Kollam nowadays.

Alcohol, drug abuse, suicides, dowry death, rapes and child abduction have now stained Kollam's name. Two years ago, an English weekly selected Kollam district as the best district in India on the basis of law enforcement and social harmony.

History

When the kingdom of Travancore existed, its commercial capital was Kollam. The first railway line in Travancore was the meter gauge line built between Kollam and Punalur. Kollam district was formed on July 1, 1949 by merging the taluks of Kollam, Kunnathur, Karunagappally, Kottarakkara, Pathanamthitta, Pathanapuram, Chenkkotta, Karthikapalli, Mavelikkara, Thiruvalla, Ambalapuzha and Cherthala after the Thiru-Kochi state came into existence. Sabarimala was also in Kollam district then. Later, Alappuzha and Pathanamthitta districts were formed by detaching parts of it.

Incidents that tarnished the name of Kollam

Kollam recorded liquor sales worth Rs 1.06 crore in a single day to celebrate Onam two years ago and set a 'model' for the state. The Bevco outlet in Ashramam in the district came to the top with the highest sales on 'Uthradam' day when Rs 117 crores worth of liquor was sold in the state. Another figure that came out on the same day was even more worrying.

According to the National Crime Records Bureau's estimate of 2021, Kollam city has the highest number of suicides in India. The suicide rate is calculated based on the number of suicides per 100,000 people in the population. As per this, the suicide rate in Kollam is 43.9 percent. The population of Kollam city area is 11.1 lakh. In 2021, 487 people took their lives in Kollam. Asansol city in West Bengal is just behind Kollam in terms of suicide rate. The suicide rate there is 38.5 percent.

Dowry abuse

Recently, Kollam has witnessed many dowry related suicides that rocked Kerala. One such incident was the death of Ayurvedic medical student Vismaya (24), a native of Kollam Nilamel, who committed suicide in December 2021.

After marrying Vismaya, Kiran Kumar (31), an officer of the motor vehicle department, took 100 sovereign, 1.25 acres land and a car worth 10 lakhs as dowry. Kiran demanded even more and eventually Vismaya took her own life. In May 2022, Kollam 1st Additional Sessions Court Judge KN Sujith issued an order sentencing Kiran to ten years rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 12.44 lakh as the maximum punishment for dowry harassment. The government also set an example by dismissing him from his job.

Kollam also witnessed extreme brutality where wives were killed by hanging, set on fire and starved for dowry. Suraj, a native of Adoor, who married Uthra, a native of Anchal, was given 100 sovereign, three and a half acres, a car and 10 lakh rupees as dowry. Also, Utrha's family would pay Rs 8000 per month for household expenses. After securing all the properties in the name of Uthra, Sooraj killed her by forcing a snake bite on her so as to get married to another person.

Thushara, a mother of two young children, was starved to death by her husband and mother in Oyoor in Kollam, for not giving Rs 2 lakhs as dowry. At the time of death, Thushara, who was reduced to bones and skin, weighed 20 kg. Only water mixed with sugar was given as food.

When Shahana, a medical PG student from Thiruvananthapuram's Venjaramood took her own life on December 4, Dr. EA Ruwais, a native of Karunagappally stood as the reason for it. Shahana, who took her own life after writing a death note on the back of a hospital OP ticket, is the latest in the line of women who have to sacrifice their lives for dowry in Kerala. The whole of Kerala asked why Shahana did the extreme when she studied hard to become a doctor and was about to get her master's degree.

Beyond love, Ruwais and his parents demanded a dowry of Rs 1.5 crores, 150 sovereign, one acre of land and a BMW car as dowry. Shahana may have taken her life thinking that if the marriage ends, she will have to see Ruwais again in the classroom. The High Court granted anticipatory bail to Ruwais' father Abdul Rasheed, who went on the run after he was made the second accused in the case.

Abduction of child

A six-year-old girl was kidnapped from Oyoor in Kollam on November 27 by three members of a family. This rare incident, which attracted the attention of the entire state, was another incident that tarnished Kollam's name.

KR Padmakumar, wife MR Anithakumari and daughter Anupama of Kaviraj in Mampallikkunnam in Chathannoour, who were arrested in this incident, have been remanded now.

The teacher who was jailed for brutally beating up her elderly mother-in-law is another vicious incident from Kollam. Even as the alarming figures of alcoholism and suicide rise, residents of Kollam are wondering how to save themselves from the ignominy of cases of dowry abuse and child abduction.