PSYCHO LEGAL ASPECT OF PUNISHMENT FOR ATTEMPT TO SUICIDE
AUTHORS:
1.ADITYA ABHANG, B.COM.,D.LL&L.W.,LL.B., ASSOCIATE AT KIRAN & BORA ADVOCATES, PARTNER AT LEGAL NURTURE
2. PRANITA DATE., M.A.CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY, INTERN AND RESEARCH ASSISTANT AT DR.VASUDEO PARALIKAR CLINIC
The newspaper headline read, ‘My son had no reason to commit suicide.’ An IIT - H final year student jumped to death from his hostel building on the campus. He had very impressive scores, had command over various languages and was a very bright student; then the question remains “WHY?”
When we come across news articles revolving around suicide or hear discussions about the same, we wonder to ourselves what exactly would have made the person take up such a drastic step and conclude it to be an irrational decision. If the person is a part of the high income group, we mostly assume that the person was having all the luxuries,.ie. basically everything one would ever wish to have and it was the greed to gain more/emotional weakness that proved fatal.
Suicide leaves a trace of many questions and everyone tries to answer them by their own. But the answer that we are looking for here is not obvious as 1 + 1 = 2 but it is a lot more complex.
Statics reveal:
• More than 8,00,000 people die due to suicide each year worldwide.
• Suicide is the second leading cause of death in the world in the age group ranging from 15 to 29?years. Majority of the suicides (37.8%) in India are by those below the age of 30 years.
• The fact that 71% of suicides in India are by persons below the age of 44 years imposes a huge social, emotional and economic burden on society.
• A lot of suicide attempts are not even reported by families and individuals because of the fear of punishment by law, which makes it more difficult for the person to seek help and it creates stigma and fear around it.
What makes a person commit suicide?
The act of suicide has a wide range of causes like:
• stressful and disturbing life events
• physical and mental illness
• disturbed interpersonal relationships
• economic difficulties.
• suicide is not committed by a person because he/she is weak but the person has already been fighting for a very long time now.
• for the person in this mental state it seems less painful to injure himself/herself than go through all the emotional and psychological pain.
• for some injuring self makes them feel numb and the physical pain overpowers the non ending emotional ache or heartache.
• there are stages before a person reaches to committing suicide which are suicidal ideation and suicidal thoughts which can cause due to a lot of stressful situations in a person’s life.
Different approaches can theorize different causes of suicide. According to the psychodynamic perspective repressed emotions of the individual reside in the unconscious mind and they affect the individual’s behaviour. The behaviour of an individual reflects the repressed feelings, thoughts and desires that he or she has tried to bury deep down since childhood. Study reveals the adverse child experiences are psychological, physical, or sexual abuse including violence against the mother; or being around household members who were substance abusers, mentally ill or suicidal or have had criminal records. Adults with such adverse childhood experiences have a higher risk towards suffering depression and may attempt suicide. These past experiences reside in the subconscious and they may affect the behaviour of such persons unconsciously in adulthood. Early negative development of children can influence their negative thinking in the future during adulthood as in the case of individuals who suffer from disruptive and impulsive aggressive behavior.
According to the Behaviorist Approach one of the major reasons that leads an individual towards suicidal behavior is negative reinforcement. Person learns the behaviour that will help him avoid the aversive stimuli (Unwanted event or situation). A person suffering from depression or any mental illness is more likely to get involved in the path of attempting suicide because such a person thinks it is the best way to end sufferings. People who want to commit suicide have history of abnormality when it comes to their patterns of thought, emotional reaction and behavior.
One most important perspective is the Stress Diathesis Model in which life stressors causes a suicidal crisis in individuals who have pre-existing tendency that leads to aggressive and impulsive personality traits as well as pessimism.
Legal background:
I) Indian Penal Code and the Medical Health Care Act:
Section 309 IPC: Attempt to commit suicide —Whoever attempts to commit suicide and does any act towards the commission of such offence, shall he punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year [or with fine, or with both].
So, basically a person who's attempt to suicide is proved to be unsuccessful viz. in case such a person survives the attempt to suicide, then such a person can be booked under section 309 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.
Now, Section 115 (1) of the Mental Health Care Act, 2017 reads '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'.
Whereas section 115 (2) reads as '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' thus making it mandatory for the the Government (State or Central) as the case may be to take the necessary care and provide necessary treatment to such a person.
Hence, section 115 (1) can be said to be restricting the arbitrary use of the section 309 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.
However, this doesn't mean that section 309 of the IPC has been completely repealed. In a recent incidence that took place on 06.06.2020 where a young runaway couple allegedly attempted suicide at a police station located within a town in Bengaluru, after learning that the woman's parents were coming to take her home and they were booked under section 309.
II) Parliament and Parliamentarian's attempts to amend/omit section 309:
i) Private Member's Bill - Prakash Javadekar 22nd February, 2013
ii) Private Member's Bill - Husain Dalwai 11th March, 2016
iii) “Law Commission of India, in its 210th Report, had recommended that Section 309 (attempt to commit suicide) of IPC needs to to be effaced from the statute book. As law and order is a state subject, views of States/UTs were requested on the on the recommendations of the Law Commission. 18 states and 4 Union territory administrations have supported that Section 309 of the IPC may be deleted. Keeping in view the responses from the states/UTs, it has been decided to delete Section 309 of IPC from the statute book.” Minister of State for home Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhary
III) Supreme Court:
In P. Rathiram v. Union of India , it was held that section 309 is a cruel and irrational provision. It violates Article 21. Attempted suicide has no baneful effect on Society
In Smt. Gian Kaur v. State of Punjab ,it was held that ‘right to life does not include right to die. Extinction of life is not included in protection of life. Thus, the provision penalising attempt to commit suicide does not violate Article 21.
In Aruna Shanbaug [6] judgment dated 07.03.2011, Justice Markandey Katju and Justice Gyan Sudha Misra observed “We are of the opinion that although Section 309, Indian Penal Code (attempt to commit suicide) has been held to be constitutionally valid in Gian Kaur's case, the time has come when it should be deleted by Parliament as it has become anachronistic. A person attempts suicide in a depression, and hence he needs help, rather than punishment. We therefore recommend to Parliament to consider the feasibility of deleting Section 309 from the Indian Penal Code.”
What effects will punishment have on such a person?
It would be very cruel act to punish a person who has attempted to commit suicide and would in turn subject such a person to sufferings who had already found life to be painful, unbearable and chances of being happy so minute that ending life seems easier for him. If such a person fails in his/her attempt to die, by punishing him/her, we are causing more torture and degradation that would be unreasonable and unjust. In fact, such a person needs more empathetic treatment and support. If a person has attempted suicide due to any stressful situation that he/she is not able to handle at the time and if he/she fails in the attempt, there are chances for his/her betterment with mental professional help but with punishment we are making it more difficult for him/her to make any improvement and it also makes his/her mental state more vulnerable. Punishing such a person will not only deepen his/her emotional and psychological wounds but will also end any chance of betterment and hope in him/her. Even for criminals we try for the reformation but punishing the person who tries to commit suicide will only increase his/her negative schemas about life and his/her distress. It is most likely, that after this punishment the person will be more traumatized and will again try to commit suicide. Hence, punishment is not at all the answer to this act and the person should be provided with proper care, treatment and rehabilitation as prescribed in the Mental Health Care Act, 2017.
REFERENCES
[1] https://www.deccanherald.com/city/bengaluru-crime/runaway-couple-attempts-suicide-at-police-station-847348.html
[2] https://rajyasabha.nic.in/business/Bull_No.aspx?number=50693
[3] https://rajyasabha.nic.in/business/Bull_No.aspx?number=55199
[4] 1994 AIR SC 1844
[5] 1996 AIR SCW 1336
[6] 2011 CRI. L. J. (Supp) 301
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