The ‘right to die, if any, is inherently inconsistent with the ‘right to life’ as is ‘death with life.

Introduction
The English poet William Ernest Henley wrote: “I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul.” An individual attempt to end their life when they are in distress or agony, and anticipates that they are the sole holder of their life, nonetheless this opinion is not accurate as the state and the family members have an interest in the life of the individual, that doesn’t make them the sole holder of their life.

This pandemic is for sure the difficult time we could face in our lives. Being isolated does affect our mental health in every way possible and depression comes out as the result. Some may cop up with it, some try different ways to get out of it, but some others, they loose! After seeing hundreds of posts related to mental health and about suicides.We all might have started thinking, why do people opt for suicides? Even I thought about the same. I couldn’t get that question answered. Every other day is a new challenge for us to live, to survive, to rise, to fly. “With increasing incidents of Suicide, we can understand that “Everything Affects Everything”. In theology, in morality and in law, suicide has always been reckoned as impermissible whatever be the justification for such perception. The law does not, of course, make commission of suicide punishable. Commission of suicide is not made punishable not because the commission of suicide is not culpable, but because the person culpably responsible would have departed from this world before he can face any indictment.

The recent death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput has left the country in such a great shock that people started talking a lot more about mental health these days. This article is structured to cover the law surrounding mental illness and suicide.

Questions that arouse
1) Is depression the real cause of suicides these days?

2) Are there any law related to suicides?

3) How can law enforcement help in reducing suicides?

Suicide
The definition of suicide under common law is ‘The intentional taking of one’s own life, was a felony that was punished by Forfeiture of all the goods and chattels of the offender’. Mental disorders, including depression, bipolar disorder, autism, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders, and substance abuse including alcoholism and the use of benzodiazepines are risk factors. Some suicides are impulsive acts due to stress, such as from financial difficulties, relationship problems such as breakups, or bullying. Approximately 1.5% of people die by suicide.

Is suicide a crime?
Suicide is a crime in some parts of the world. However, while suicide has been decriminalized in many western countries, the act is stigmatized and discouraged. In other contexts, suicide could be utilized as an extreme expression of liberty, as is exemplified by its usage as an expression of devout dissent towards perceived injustice which occurred occasionally in cultures like ancient Rome.

While a person who has committed suicide is beyond the reach of the law, there can still be legal consequences in relation to treatment of the corpse or the fate of the person’s property or family members. So, some countries do criminalize suicides.

Then and Now
The suicide rates in the country had been constantly increasing these days as compared to the earlier times and the majority of the suicides are committed by the youth. According to reports, the number of patients suffering from depression has been a major factor for the increasing suicidal rates.
Every year close to 800,000 people take their own life and there are many more people who attempt suicide. Every suicide is a tragedy that affects families, communities and entire countries and has long-lasting effects on the people left behind.

Suicide- A punishable offence?

An attempt to commit suicide was a punishable offence under Indian Penal Code, 1860. The aspect of mental health behind the suicide deaths was pointed out by Mental Health-care Act 2017.

Not only abetment to suicide but attempt to commit suicide was also a punishable offence under Indian Penal Code.

Law Surrounding mental illness and suicide:

Ø View of Supreme Court and High Courts on law of suicide (section 309)

Ø Abetment to commit suicide is a punishable offence under section 306 of Indian Penal Code (IPC). In addition to this, attempt to commit suicide was also a punishable offence under section 309 of IPC before 2014.

IPC 309- Punishment For Attempting Suicide: The Indian penal code 309 deals with punishment for attempted suicide. The Mental Health Care Act 2017 greatly limits the scope for the code to be implemented. The bill states, “Any person who attempts to commit suicide shall be presumed, unless proved otherwise, to have severe stress and shall not be tried and punished under the said Code”.

There may be so many reasons for committing suicide. It may be an act of a sickly person, committed in a of state delirium. It may be a self-centered phenomenon, arising out of aberrations in individual behaviour. Sometime fatalism leads to suicide when there is no escape from discipline and regimentation people may resort to suicide. Many problems like poverty, deprivation, disappointment and several social mal-adjustments are sought to be solved by suicide.
Mentally ill persons may not exhibit symptoms of their illness in some cases but the mentally depressed persons are choosing their own ways to commit suicide. Their disordered mind is searching its own fruitful ways. According to them the horrible sound of the train is a sweet melody and the flame of the fire may be an inspiration.

Problems caused due to criminalization of attempt to suicide:

ü Emergency treatment for those who have attempted suicide is not readily accessible as they are referred by local hospitals and doctors to tertiary centres as it is termed as Medico Legal case.

ü Those who attempt suicide are already distressed and in psychological pain and for them to face the ignominy of police interrogation causes increased distress, shame, guilt and further suicide attempt.

ü It also leads to a gross under-reporting of attempted suicide and the magnitude of the problem is not unknown.

ü As many attempted suicides are categorized in the guise of accidental poisoning etc. emotional and mental health support is not available to those who have attempted as they are unable to access the services.

De-criminalization of attempt to suicide

On the basis of the recommendation of Law Commission in its 210th report, in December 2014 the Rajya Sabha after claiming support of 18 states and 4 Union Territories decided to repeal Section 309 from the Indian Penal Code.

Law relating to mental illness

 Mental Healthcare Act 2017 was enacted to provide for mental healthcare and services for persons with mental illness and to protect, promote and fulfil the rights of such persons during delivery of mental healthcare and services and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. The Act defines mental illness. The Act provides that a patient of mental illness may nominate a representative of his choice who shall consider the current and past wishes, the life history, values, cultural background and the best interests of the person with mental illness; provide support to the person with mental illness in making treatment decisions; be involved in discharge planning and perform such other duties as are specified under the Act. The Act also provides for the establishment of an authority to deal with applications and complaints by persons with mental illness.
 

Presumption in case of attempt to commit suicide
Section 115 of the Act provides a presumption in case of attempt to commit suicide as follows: Notwithstanding anything contained in section 309 of the Indian Penal Code any person who attempts to commit suicide shall be presumed, unless proved otherwise, to have severe stress and shall not be tried and punished under the said Code.

Conclusion
The attempt to commit suicide is no longer an offence but a provision is made in the Mental Healthcare Act to presume that the person attempting suicide is under severe stress and casts a duty upon the Government to provide care, treatment and rehabilitation to a person, having severe stress and who attempted to commit suicide, to reduce the risk of recurrence of attempt to commit suicide. The abutment to commit suicide continues to remain an offence under IPC. Mental illness and suicide go hand in hand and with the increase in suicidal deaths and mental illness patients it is essential that steps must be taken so as to prevent the people from falling prey to such evils. The appropriate Government shall have a duty to provide care, treatment and rehabilitation to a person, having severe stress and who attempted to commit suicide, to reduce the risk of recurrence of attempt to commit suicide. It is the duty of the Government to provide adequate facilities and treatment to the person who attempts to commit suicide in order to rehabilitate him.

References

1) Stedman’s Medical Dictionary (28th ed.) 2006, ISBN 978-0-7817-3390-8

2) Hawton K, van Heeringen K (April 2009), Suicide, Lancet. 373 (9672): 1372–81 URL:https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(09)60372-X/fulltext Ibid.

3) Fazel S, Runeson B, Suicide, New England Journal of Medicine, January 2020, 382 (3): 266–74 URL: https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMra1902944

4) Chenna Jagadeeswar And Anr. vs State Of Andhra Pradesh, (1983) Crl. Law Journal 549 URL: https://indiankanoon.org/doc/66070774/

5) Benoy vs. Aleyamma Kuriakose, 11th August 2010, Kerala State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission URL: https://indiankanoon.org/doc/194839039/

6) University of Manchester Centre for Mental Health and Risk, The National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness, July 2012https://web.archive.org/web/20120714134607/http://www.medicine.manchester.ac.uk/cmhr/centreforsuicideprevention/nci/reports/annual_report_2012.pdf

7) Kutcher S, Chehil S (2012), Suicide Risk Management A Manual for Health Professionals (2nd ed.), pp. 30–33, ISBN 978-1-119-95311-1

8) What is depression? Physician Review by Dr. Ranna Parekh, January 2017 https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/depression/what-is-depression

9) Section 2(s) of Mental Healthcare Act 2017

10) Suicide Fact sheet N°398, WHO, April 2016 URL: https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/suicide