Kerala woman kills self; monkeys blamed for abetting suicide

 
 A daily wage worker from Vellarada in the hill ranges of Thiruvananthapuram, Pushpabhai, 52, died in a nearby hospital on Thursday night after consuming poison, leaving her worries behind.  Those monkeys don't allow me to live, she told the doctor just before she breathed last.

This is perhaps the first suicide abetted by monkeys in the state. The middle-aged woman was living with her son Riju in their small house with asbestos roofing in the slopes of Koonichi-Kondaketty hills in Vellarada. Though the picturesque village may look touristy for a visitor,  people living there are constantly under threat of raids by monkeys. 
 

Troops of monkeys come down from the hills and vandalise the houses regularly. The rogue animals would attack people if they tried to scare them away. Many families left their homes, thanks to monkey menace. 

When Pushpavathi returned home on Thursday after a day-long work as part of the MNREGS, she found her kitchen raided by the monkeys. They left nothing untouched and made a mess of things. With the animal droppings all over, rice, provisions, cooked food and utensils were not spared. The monkeys also destroyed clothes and ransacked everything around. 

This was not the first instance. The asbestos roof was not a deterrent for the monkeys. The animals know very well how to remove the roof and break into houses. The local farmers are also a disturbed lot as the monkeys destroy all standing crops including banana, coconut and vegetables. 

The rogue monkeys have gone mad these days, and Pushpavathi was very much disturbed, her neighbours said. The monkeys used to raid her house every day in the last week, they added. 

After the death of Pushpavathi, local people raised a protest  demanding he authorities to take steps to keep the monkeys away from the locality. 

• Monkey raids
• man-animal conflict
• animal raids