For those who always thought suicide would be their last resort when they’d failed at everything else… Indian Criminal Law says you’d better get it right if you’re going to try. Suicide is the work of a skilled person and may not be for people who are not used to getting things right in the first attempt.
Section 309 of the IPC states that ‘whoever attempts to commit suicide and does any act towards the commission of such offence, shall be punished with simple imprisonment for term which may extend to one year [or with fine, or with both]‘. Which as a layperson I understand to mean that if a person survives a suicide attempt, he or she is punished with a year’s imprisonment. Is this double punishment fair? People don’t commit suicide because of the thrill or adventure attached to it. People who are driven to take such an extreme step must be greatly traumatized and helpless. The victim needs compassion and psychiatrist help not condemnation and jail. Survival instinct is a common characteristic between all the living creatures of the world. A person troubled enough to take in own life cannot be an offender. Suicide is the result of extreme desperation and it needs to be looked at with emotions not condemnation. Imagine the farmers of Vidarbha being put behind bars because the state failed to support them.
An advocate friend of mine tried to explain the logic behind the law. The reason behind declaring suicide as a penal offence is that the state upholds the dignity of human life and human life is precious to the State. If that is the case the stress should be on making sure that the reasons for suicide should be eliminated. No doubt, the state cannot prevent the suicides committed due to family reasons or emotional distress. But when a person takes his life due to the indifference of the state, the concerned official should be punished. One or two sporadic instances could be the result of personal reasons but when the number of suicide in a given area is large, some outside agency should be held accountable.
Santhara is a ritual practised among Jains in which a person stops eating with the intention of preparing for death. Last year there was a long debate on whether Santhara should be declared illegal like suicide and euthanasia. The Jains disagree. Their logic was that suicide is committed in passionate mood of anger, deceit or other emotions while Santhara is a well thought of decision taken in a cool state of mind. Death by Santhara may take weeks and in some cases months and the person concerned is free to change his or her mind at will. I am not sure about the last sentence. Those who undertake Santhara are revered by fellow Jains and their deaths are celebrated publicly. Local newspapers praise them and families often publish full page advertisements of the practice. There would be too much pressure on the person choosing Santhara to opt out of it half-way. Santhara is not the same as suicide but in certain cases I suspect the person concerned may be taking this decision due to reasons which are not just spiritual.
The only part of Section 309 that seems reasonable to me is the punishment for an abettor of suicide. It is high time Section 309 is scrapped or at least amended in favour of the victim, for the better of the society. The better way could be sending the victim to some sort of rehab where he or she is provided psychiatrist help and efforts are made to compassionately find a solution to his problems.
Disclaimer: I am opposed to every form of suicide as well as (or including) Santhara. The Title of this post merely reflects my understanding of Section 309 of the IPC and is not intended to abet any suicide attempts. And the following picture is from a popular email forward I received years ago: poor rabbit.
from Vishesh :)
from Reema :)
17 Comments
July 1, 2008 at 3:08 pm
Prerna:
“..human life is precious to the State.”
Nothing has made me laugh out louder than this possible explanation of this weirdness in the Indian Penal Code.
That human life is precious to the state in India is evident in all the millions we treat like crap every day, isn’t it? And how we stand around hand-wringing watching the aftermath of a road accident while a person bleeds to death?
The real reason probably is that we are unconcerned about how we really are; but we are very bothered about how we appear to be. Add to that our queasiness as a society with several issues that we would rather sweep under the carpet than discuss, and there is practically no lobbying to amend this anachronistic piece of legislature. Section 377 about which Quirky Indian also wrote recently is a similar example.
That said, I am of the view that nobody but I should control my life. I am also all for living wills and euthanasia. I also happen to think Santhara is a very humane and cognitive practice. It does not matter to me where it originates from but I would do it, if I have to.
Good post on an unusual topic.
July 1, 2008 at 4:13 pm
Interesting post Prerna. I was not aware of the practice of Santhara…will need to do some google searches today!
July 1, 2008 at 4:51 pm
hmm… what you say is true…why will someone kill himself/herself unless something has affected them? this is just stuidity
July 1, 2008 at 5:01 pm
There is this concept of some ages ago in criminal law that other than God, only the state should have a right to take lives. Any other form of taking lives of considered illegal under this doctrine. Of course, most of the civilized world has moved on from it… India still remains a notable exception.
Laws like this only hurt. This just motivates a suicide attempt victim who is in the hospital to lie to his doctor to prevent things from getting worse. And lying to your doctor in those cases can be really bad. It also makes doctors reluctant to handle suicide victims.
July 1, 2008 at 9:40 pm
Santhara sound similar to taking samadhi in Hindus.
A very different topic indeed. Liked reading it.
@Anshul u have a good point there. If the victim lies about the real cause he/she is denied the psychological counseling also.
July 1, 2008 at 10:21 pm
@ Anshul:
Contrary to what you say, admitting diminished responsibility on account of mental health issues (including clinical depression) or filing a medico-legal case is the cleanest way for a person, who survives suicide, to avoid being charged under this section. That is also the best way to get psychological care although the less said about counselling in India (even now), the better. The availability is sparse, the costs are prohibitive.
July 1, 2008 at 11:03 pm
A person who has been through the trauma of a failed suicide should be given psychiatric help rather than making his/her life more miserable. Its a shame that such laws exist.
July 2, 2008 at 12:27 pm
Perhaps law is meant to be a deterrent to suicide attempts. But yes, translated it means, better your attempt be effective or you will be jailed.
What I want to know is this law implemented? When I was in school, I heard about students trying to commit suicide over results. Thankfully, they survived and live to tell the tale, but escaped any kind of imprisonment. Have you seen implementation around?
July 2, 2008 at 2:40 pm
@ Poonam:
It _is_ implemented although the degree to which is it implemented is a function, like much other enforcement in India, of one’s family connections, family’s willingness to bribe and unwillingness to let anyone find the truth in the first place. Cases are often hushed up, with or without bribes.
As I mentioned in an earlier comment, although it is a Scylla and Charibdis type situation, resorting to mental health issues, about which other prejudices are rampant, as a defence is increasingly common.
July 2, 2008 at 5:07 pm
Interesting topic
I am still confused and not able to figure out if 309 is right or wrong !! need more time and thought may be !!
btw, why don’t you write an “About” page here /
July 3, 2008 at 12:21 am
If you think about it technically, suicide is attempted homicide. Like all homicide it would take inquiry to determine if that homicide was justifiable or unjustifiable. If unjustifiable, then it is only sensical that the suicide victim be charged with murder, since he did try to murder another human being.
This is the sort of thing we get (1.) governments make laws to maintain an appearance rather than effectively govern and (2.) governments try to base law around free compassion rather than compassionate freedom.
July 3, 2008 at 2:20 pm
politicians are control freaks, aren’t they ?
one more law in the multitude of laws of this country – we may have more laws than gods – if they keep going at it
July 3, 2008 at 9:01 pm
Thanks everybody for making the discussion interesting.
Shefaly, //I am of the view that nobody but I should control my life// I agree with you but do you believe that this should be the case for the people who have responsibilities towards dependents.
July 3, 2008 at 9:15 pm
Prax, the Indian Penal Code was passed in 1860 so Indian law makers can’t take credit for drafting this law but they have no excuse for not amending or repealing it. And the multitude of our gods doesn’t seem to be threatened by the number of our laws and I think it will be this way for a long time. When the number of laws starts threatening the gods, their faithful followers I am sure will find or create more to add more to their number
Reema, I don’t know much about Samadhi.
September 11, 2008 at 4:50 pm
i really feel strange that my above frnds are against of the crime of attempt to suicide bt i feel tht it is a crime! bcoz u cannot let ur life 2 go 4 any silly reason u felt so there should b some punishment regarding this , just like as a teacher punish her student for his wrong doings after d child scares to repeat the things again same the person who attempting to suicide will atleast think 4 onetime .
September 11, 2008 at 4:57 pm
My dear frnd swati I do agree wid ur point bt sometimes people r in so much depression dat they dont think abt what all punishments they will hv to face if they fail in doing so.
September 11, 2008 at 5:37 pm
Welcome Heena.
Welcome Swati.