In a shocking incident in Edappal, Malappuram, a mother allegedly killed her daughter, who was suffering from cerebral palsy, before taking her own life.
The deceased have been identified as Anjana (27) and her mother, Anithakumari (57). The tragedy is believed to have occurred around 8 am on November 12, shortly after Anithakumari’s son left for work. According to preliminary police findings, Anithakumari drowned her daughter in a water drum inside their house and later died by suicide.
Anithakumari’s husband had passed away about a month ago, and police suspect that severe depression led to the incident. Her daughter’s chronic illness and the lack of proper medical care are also believed to have weighed heavily on her.
Research indicates that cerebral palsy (CP) is among the most common causes of childhood disability in India. The condition often involves neuromuscular spasticity, cognitive impairment, behavioral issues, and speech and visual difficulties, as well as feeding and gastrointestinal challenges. As a result, children with CP are typically highly dependent on their caregivers—most often, their mothers.
A social system that overlooks caregivers
In low- and middle-income countries, mothers of children with cerebral palsy often juggle multiple responsibilities—managing the household, earning an income, and caring for their child. This creates intense stress, compounded by gender roles, poverty, and the social stigma surrounding disability. Caregiving often lowers a caregiver’s quality of life, and many experience high levels of stress and depression.
Along with emotional strain, parents face social isolation, stigma, and conflicts within the family and community. They also endure physical exhaustion, lack of sleep, body pain, and health problems such as hypertension.
“This ongoing and neglected issue of caregiver burden needs to be properly recognised and addressed,” says K.M. Gopakumar, co-convenor of the Working Group on Access to Medicines and Treatment. “I’m sure the main driving force behind what happened (in the Malappuram case) must have been her fear about what would happen to her daughter after her own death. There was no one else to take care of her—that’s really the core issue: the lack of a proper social support system.”
Gopakumar adds that although Kerala has a relatively better support network compared to many other states, it still lacks a structured mechanism for caregiving for people with disabilities. “Most of the existing systems are run either by political parties or by faith-based organisations. We don’t have a strong, government-led model for this kind of care. And even where it exists, the quality varies. That’s what leads to desperation,” he says.
He notes that whenever such health crises occur, the focus tends to be entirely on the patient. “No one looks at the caregiver—the person who bears the emotional and physical weight of care. Over time, they collapse under that pressure. If they don’t get support, their own health deteriorates,” Gopakumar says. “That’s the reality: caregivers often collapse before or after the patient does. In cases of long-term illnesses—rare diseases like DMD or cerebral palsy, or cancer—the questions of ‘what happens after I die’ and ‘how will the family cope financially’ become unbearable. That’s what drives many of these suicides.”
Dr C.J. John, Senior Consultant Psychiatrist at Medical Trust Hospital, Kochi, says such suicides reflect the weakness of our social and institutional systems in supporting people with disabilities and their caregivers. “In conditions like cerebral palsy or chronic mental illness, there’s also the issue of social stigma. Our society often treats such situations casually or with avoidance, which isolates these families further. This case points to the urgent need to strengthen our social welfare systems. The scope of palliative care should also be expanded—it shouldn’t be limited to terminal or critical illnesses but should include people with lifelong disabilities, including those who are mentally disabled,” he says.
Dr John adds that economic hardship is not the only factor driving families that have a member with a disability like cerebral palsy. “Even financially stable families sometimes collapse under the emotional weight—the stigma, the burden, the uncertainty about the future. Society, including local bodies, the government, and NGOs, must step in to create systems that can mitigate such impulses—to ensure that no one reaches that point of despair again,” he says.
Gopakumar, meanwhile, notes that there has also been a lack of research on this issue. “If someone examines crime bureau data, all of these cases are simply recorded as suicides, and the reasons are not categorised or studied separately,” he says.
Preventing tragedies through community care
Pointing to the need for stronger community involvement in healthcare, Gopakumar notes that most palliative care units and care organisations should become embedded within the local governance system.
“Especially as our senior citizen population grows, we need stronger community participation in both physical and mental health support. If that mother had known her daughter would be cared for even after her death, she probably wouldn’t have taken that extreme step,” he says.
“These tragedies are preventable if people know their loved ones will receive care and that treatment is affordable. Of course, there will always be cases driven purely by emotional despair, but this kind of desperation—born out of helplessness and fear for the future—can be prevented.”