Thiruvananthapuram: Koovakkudi Bridge near Aryanad continues to bear the bad reputation of being the most preferred suicide spot in the capital with another case being reported on Monday. The fencing on the 111-year old Koovakudi Bridge and the new Koovakudi Bridge could not avert suicide much to the disappointment of residents. Incidentally, an elderly woman in the locality had unsuccessfully tried to talk out the victim identified as Anjali, 19, of Kannampally, Uriyacode from the act.
“The girl, a student of G Karunakaran Memorial College, Kakkodu, had left home for college in the morning. She walked through the gap on the new bridge where the fence ends and jumped into the river,” said Aruvikkara police. Since its commissioning, almost every year, suicides and sometimes suicide pacts had happened here. “I remember years when up to six people jumped to death here. The old bridge that connects Aruvikkara panchayat with Vellanad was built by British three decades before Aruvikkara dam itself,” said Raj Kumar, an activist.
In the last suicide pact in 2014, a three-member family had jumped to death.
“Unlike in the past, more houses had come up in the vicinity. Still, the issue continues. The 1.2-metre barbed wire fences were put up to discourage suicides and dumping of garbage,” said A. Hakeem, a local social worker. Meanwhile, police said that the victim had left a suicide note at her home, wherein she apologised for the dire step to her dad and an uncle. She leaves father Sasikumar, an NRI; mother Suma and younger sister Athira, Aruvikkara police said.
