Every year more than 800 000 people take their own life and there are many more people who attempt suicide. Suicide is a serious public health problem. Dilution of the section dealing with attempt to committing suicide is an opportunity for society to help those who make such an attempt.
In December, 2014, the government decided to decriminalize “attempt to suicide” by deleting Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code from the statute book. A Cabinet note on the Indian Penal Code (Amendment) Bill has already been circulated by the Union home ministry among other ministries.
The present section 309 IPC reads:
309. Attempt to commit suicide.—Whoever attempts to commit suicide and does any act towards the commission of such offence, shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year [or with fine, or with both].
According to WHO, every year more than 800 000 people take their own life and there are many more people who attempt suicide. Suicide was the second leading cause of death among 15–29-year-olds globally in 2012.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century most countries around the world had laws that provided for punishment, including jail sentences, for persons who attempted suicide. However, in the last 50 years the situation has changed significantly. Most, but not all, countries have decriminalized suicide.
According a report by WHO, Of 192 independent countries and states investigated (152), 25 currently have specific laws and punishments for attempted suicide. An additional 10 countries follow Sharia law and in these countries people who have attempted suicide may be punished. Penalties stipulated in the laws range from a small fine or short period of imprisonment to life imprisonment. However, many of the countries with laws stipulating punishments do not actually prosecute people who attempt suicide. The complexities of the situation are illustrated by the following examples that exist in different countries:
In a report released by the WHO, Preventing Suicide, A Global Imperative, India has by far the largest number of suicides in the world, accounting for nearly a third of the global total and more than twice as many as China, which is second on the list. It also has the highest rate of suicides among young people, those aged 15 to 29 years. India in 2012 had nearly 2.6 lakh suicides, dwarfing China’s 1.2 lakh.
The Law Commission had earlier recommended repeal of Section 309 in its 42nd report submitted in 1971. The government the introduced the IPC (Amendment) Bill, 1978 which was passed by the Rajya Sabha, but before it could be passed by the Lok Sabha, the Lok Sabha was dissolved and the bill lapsed. In 1987, the Bombay High Court held that the right to life guaranteed by the Constitution includes the right to live and the right to end one’s life, and struck down Sec 309. The SC upheld the view in 1994. But in 1996 a five-judge SC bench held that the fundamental right to life did not include the right to die, and that Sec 309 was constitutionally valid. That remains the law today. Then the Law Commission then submitted its 156th Report in 1997 after the Gian Kaur judgment, recommending retention of section 309.
However, the Law Commission, in its 210th report, said attempt to suicide warranted medical and psychiatric care and not punishment. It had noted that attempt to suicide may be regarded more as a manifestation of a diseased condition of mind, deserving treatment and care rather than punishment, and accordingly recommended to the government to initiate the process for repeal of the “anachronistic” Section 309.
The Law Commission in its report said, “In view of the views expressed by the WHO, the International Association for Suicide Prevention, France, decriminalization of attempted suicide by all countries in Europe and North America, the opinion of the Indian Psychiatric Society, and the representations received by the commission from various people, the commission has resolved to recommend to the government to initiate steps for repeal of the anachronistic law contained in section 309, IPC”. The panel also mentioned that only a handful of nations like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Singapore and India have “persisted with this undesirable law”. so, taking the Law Commission’s view in consideration, in reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha in December last year, minister of state for home Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary announced that the government has decided to drop Section 309 from the IPC after 18 states and 4 Union territories backed the recommendation of the Law Commission of India in this regard.
However, there are some objections from some states. Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Punjab and Sikkim have expressed reservations against the move to decriminalise suicide bids. Bihar wanted a distinction drawn between persons driven to suicide due to medical illnesses and suicide bombers who fail to blow themselves up or terrorists who consume cyanide pills to wipe out evidence, and wanted the former to be covered by a separate legislation. However, the home ministry officials clarified to the states that it such person would still face charges under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, whether or not he succeeds in his mission.
Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Sikkim have said that decriminalizing attempt to suicide would handicap law enforcement agencies in dealing with persons who resort to fast unto death or self-immolation to press the government/ authorities to accept their unreasonable or illegitimate demands. Such people, they argued, can no longer be booked for attempt to suicide or be forcefed. They have pointed out the case of Manipuri anti-AFSPA activist IromSharmila, who has been on indefinite fast for the last 14 years but was kept alive by being charged with attempt to suicide and forcibly administered intravenous fluids.
Madhya Pradesh and Delhi argued that deleting Section 309 would dilute Section 306 (abetment of suicide), as an abettor cannot be proceeded against for a failed suicide attempt.
However, the sections of IPC related to abetment of suicide reads as follows:
305. Abetment of suicide of child or insane person.—If any person under eighteen years of age, any insane person, any delir¬ious person, any idiot, or any person in a state of intoxication, commits suicide, whoever abets the commission of such suicide, shall be punished with death or [imprisonment for life], or imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.
306. Abetment of suicide.—If any person commits suicide, whoever abets the commission of such suicide, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.
Punjab, while not opposing the deletion of Section 309, insisted that the State come forward to rehabilitate people who attempt suicide by providing medical/psychiatric care and public assistance in case of unemployment, old age, sickness, rape victims and distressed farmers. Delhi demanded that reporting of attempt to suicide to authorised officer or hospital be made compulsory.
National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) head, former Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan, said to the media that there were various factors involved in the issue and he would wait for “views from all directions”. “There could be another view. Suicide is for various reasons. We have seen the draft legislation. It was also referred to the NHRC. Let us see the views from all directions.”
In a reply to the media he said: “It’s not a question of supporting. Nobody will commit suicide simply. Various factors are there.” Abhishek Manu Singhvi, congress spokesperson and a senior lawyer in a media reply has approved of the centre’s decision and said this was a sociological debate.
The World Health Organisation has reported that no data or case-reports indicate that decriminalization increases suicides. It says that suicide rates tend to decline in countries after decriminalization. It is possible that decriminalization will increase the reporting of suicides once fear of legal recriminations is eliminated. This allows for more accurate estimates of the true extent of the issue. When suicide is considered a criminal act, suicide attempts are often hidden and suicide deaths are unreported, thus giving the false impression that suicidal behaviours are less prevalent. Suicide is a complex issue and therefore suicide prevention efforts require coordination and collaboration among multiple sectors of society, including the health sector and other sectors such as education, labour, agriculture, business, justice, law, defence, politics, and the media. Every suicide is a tragedy that affects families, communities and entire countries and has long-lasting effects on the people left behind.
However, the repeal of Section 309 should not be considered a right or a license given by the law to commit suicides. It is an opportunity for society to help such people who make such attempts. At the same time, steps must be taken to ensure that law takes care of cases of suicide-bombers, hunger strikes or any other sort of protests that seek to exert unreasonable pressure on the state for their demands. Even if Section 309 is diluted, the state must see to it that there is ample legislation and procedures to deter suicide attempts and, as the experts suggest, for any national responses for the prevention of suicide to be effective, a comprehensive multi-sectoral suicide prevention strategy is needed, not just deletion of the section from the statute book.
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