Overview

• V.T. Shijo, 47, was found dead by suicide on August 3 in the Moongampara forest after he could not raise funds for his son’s admission to an engineering college in Tamil Nadu.
• His wife, schoolteacher Lekha Raveendran, has not received her salary for over a dozen years despite a Kerala High Court ruling ordering the education department to release her back pay.
• Family members and local officials accuse the District Education Office of repeatedly ignoring court directives and school management requests to disburse Raveendran’s wages.
• Advocates highlight this incident as part of a wider trend of debt-driven suicides in Kerala, citing unresolved administrative disputes and soaring education costs as central factors.
• Local activists and relatives are demanding an immediate, comprehensive inquiry into the systemic delays that led to the family’s financial collapse and Shijo’s death.