Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has assured the Kerala Police Association (KPA) to convene a high-level meeting to discuss the increasing number of suicides among officers.
The KPA had expressed concern over the increase in suicides in the force.
At the meeting of the Kerala Police Association attended by Mr Vijayan on Monday, its president T. S. Biju and general secretary P. G. Anilkumar had cited pressure and stress in the workplace as the reason for suicides. As per the KPA, 66 policemen had committed suicide so far.
They also blamed superiors for inhumane and unequal treatment for driving them to end life.
The leaders pointed out that the prevailing staff pattern brought into force in 1988 was overburdening them with additional duties. The decision to limit the duty hours to eight is to be implemented. This year alone, there were 11 suicides.
A KPA study found that 5,592 police personnel were attached to 97 police stations coming under heavy category. These stations required 4,108 more staff. The recent incident was on August 21, when ASI P.C. Babu committed suicide. The association demanded a detailed investigation into the death, stating that they were neither slaves nor tenants to anyone.
In July, Kumar, a policeman from Palakkad, killed himself resulting in the suspension of seven police personnel from service.
His wife, R.S. Sajini, alleged her husband faced repeated harassment from his colleagues because he belonged to a ST.
In July, a police officer, named Vasanthakumari, hung herself in Kollam.
