Socio-Legal Perspective of Suicide Laws in India
SOCIO-LEGAL PERSPECTIVE OF SUICIDE LAWS IN INDIA
- Archana J R, TNDALU Chennai
The World Health Organisation (WHO) in its report has stated that, nearly 8,00,000 people die of suicide every year. This means that, for every 40 seconds one person dies by committing suicide. There are many reasons for which people commit suicide. One of the major causes of suicide is mental illness and stress. On comparing suicide attempt and death by suicide, attempt to suicide is 25 times more than that of the persons who die by committing suicide every year. India is a country with a population of about 1.3 billion. Earlier attempt to suicide was a criminal act and the person who is committing the same was punished according to the Indian Penal Code, 1860. On looking into the major reasons for committing suicide, the National Crime Record’s Bureau has stated important reasons for increase in the number of suicide and attempt to suicide. Some of these reasons include illness, dowry dispute, drug abuse or drug addiction, failure in exams, family problems, love affairs, poverty, unemployment, death of loveable persons, bankruptcy or changes that takes place suddenly in economic status etc.
The World Health Organisation in the year 2019 has stated that, India has the highest suicide rate when compared to other countries in South East Asian region. The WHO estimates of 2016 stated that, the female suicidal rate in India is the third highest in the world i.e.) 14.7. This report has also stated that, globally more than 50% of suicides are committed by people below the age group of 45 years. Further, it states that, 90% of adolescents who committed suicide belonged to low and middle income countries.
METHODS OF COMMITTING SUICIDE
The term ‘Suicide’ was derived from the Latin term ‘Suicidium’ meaning “to kill oneself”. The persons who commit suicide use different methods that are the means to kill oneself. Some of those methods include suicide by drowning, electrocution, hanging, fire, jumping from height, intake of poison such as pesticides, drug overdose, jumping in front of vehicles such as train etc. Most used method of suicide is self poisoning which is prevalent mostly in rural agricultural areas. Knowledge regarding the methods of committing suicide is more important. This is because, only by knowing these methods, one can take preventive measures to stop suicide by restricting the access to those means by which suicide is committed.
SUICIDE LAWS IN INDIA
In India, as pointed out earlier, the rate of suicide is on rise every year. With respect to the laws regarding suicide, the Indian Penal Code which was enacted in the year 1860 has provisions regarding penalisation for abetment of suicide of child or insane person, abetment of suicide and attempt to commit suicide. From the year 1860, attempt to suicide was regarded as a criminal offence and the person who attempts to commit suicide or does any act which leads to the commission of such offence are liable and they shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year or with fine or with both. Similarly abetment of suicide of child or insane person is also punishable offence and the person who abets shall be punished with death or life imprisonment or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years and the person shall also be liable to fine. Further, punishment is also provided to abetment of suicide in the Indian Penal Code. Thus the Code criminalises suicide, attempt to suicide and abetment of suicide.
Later, the Government of India has passed the Mental Health Care Act, 2017. This Act was passed on April 7, 2017 but came into force only on May 29, 2018. Under this Act, attempt to die by suicide is dealt under Section 115. This section states that, ‘notwithstanding anything contained in Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 any person who attempts to die by committing suicide, they shall be presumed to be under severe stress and they shall not be tried and punished under Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. This section also states that, if it is proved that the person who attempts to die by committing suicide is not under severe stress, and then he shall be punished as per the said Code of 1860. Thus, Section 115 of the Mental Health Care Act, 2017 decriminalises attempt to suicide.
On comparing these two suicide laws, a great confusion arises. This is because the Indian Penal Code, 1860 criminalises attempt to suicide, whereas the Mental Health Care Act of 2017 de-criminalises attempt to die by committing suicide. It took nearly 157 years to bring the Mental Health Care Act which decriminalises attempt to suicide. The Division bench of the Honourable High Court of Delhi in the case of State v. Sanjay Kumar Bhatia held that, Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 is not suitable for the present human society. It was also held that the provision like Section 309 should not remain in the statute book because it has no justification.
SOCIO-LEGAL PERSPECTIVE OF SUICIDE LAWS IN INDIA
On analysing the relationship between suicide laws in India with that of the society, there is a major drawback. This is because; the IPC was enacted in 1860 whereas the Mental Health Care Act was enacted only in 2017. The people who attempt to suicide take this decision only due to severe stress, psychological distress or illness. In this case, imposing penalties or imprisonment does not decrease the suicide attempt. What is needed is personal and psychological assistance to help him to come out of his illness or distress. Simply by imposing punishment is not of any use. Actually the state is almost indirectly responsible in most of the suicide attempt cases because most of the death occurs due to poverty, unemployment, financial instability, family issues etc. Because of this, the victim has no other options except to end his life by committing suicide. Providing punishments of the persons who attempt to commit suicide further worsens the situation because again they are undergoing more stress and worries. It does not heal them.
METHODS TO DECREASE THE SUICIDE RATE
The Indian Judiciary and polity have recognized the need to repeal Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. Several attempts were made starting from the year 1970 to repeal Section 309 of IPC. The rate of suicide in India can be reduced by properly implementing the Mental Health Care Act, 2017. Steps should be taken to amend the Indian Penal Code in order to decriminalise suicide attempt. In India, people mostly have a poor knowledge of law. Therefore, it is very important to spread awareness regarding the suicide laws. This is possible by effective implementation of Section 30 of the Mental Health Care Act, 2017 which provides for creating awareness.
Every state should keep a clear cut data with respect to death by committing suicide. This is more important because only with apt data, we can come to know the exact number of deaths by suicide. So that preventive measures can be taken to reduce the suicide rate. Most of the National Crime Records Bureau Report is based on the police records. As attempt to suicide is punishable under IPC, most of the cases are not reported due to fear of penalisation. Only be effective implementation of the Act and increased awareness among the people, the rate of suicide can surely be reduced in India. For this early detection of any stress or mental illness and adequate treatment for the same is of paramount importance. People must also be made to understand that suicide is not the only solution to get away from their problems.
REFERENCES :-
1) Laxmi Naresh Vadlamani, Mahesh Gowda, “Practical implications of Mental Healthcare Act 2017: Suicide and suicide attempt” (2019) 61 (10) Indian Journal of Psychiatry
<http://www.indianjpsychiatry.org/article.asp?issn=0019-5545;year=2019;volume=61;issue=10;spage=750;epage=755;aulast=Vadlamani> accessed 10 April 2020.
2) Rajeev Ranjan, Saurabh Kumar, Raman Deep Pattanayak, Anju dhawan and Rajesh Sagar, “De-criminalization of attempted suicide in India: A review” (2014) 23 (1) Industrial Psychiatry Journal
< https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4261212/> accessed 10 April 2020.
3) The Indian Penal Code 1860, s 309
4) The Mental Healthcare Act 2017, ss 30 and 115
