A medico legal analysis on attempt to commit suicide in india

Abstract

In India, the Law students are very often asked a question that What is that act, which if newlinecompleted is not made punishable but the failure to complete it or the mere attempt is newlinemade punishable? The answer is Suicide and Attempt to Commit Suicide is made newlinepunishable under Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code. Attempting suicide is a criminal newlineoffence in India, although in the recent past there have been many public and legal newlinediscussions considering decriminalizing suicide attempts. The increasing incidents of newlinesuicides in India are further posing a challenge before the State. The death which is the newlineultimate end of every mortal creature has never been regarded and accepted as a good newlinephenomenon and has always been subjected to deprecation and denunciation. An attempt newlineto suicide has been rejected by all the principles and ethics in vogue or propagated by newlineconventional and traditional laws as no culture, society or religion tolerates it. However, newlinegiving punishment to suicide survivor is not a justified act. Almost all the countries in the newlineworld have decimalized attempted suicide. In India, legally speaking attempted suicide is a newlinecrime till today although the current government has decided to efface the said offence newlinefrom the statute book. It seems a monstrous procedure to inflict further suffering on even newlinea single individual who has already found life so unbearable, his chances of happiness so newlineslender, that he has been willing to face pain and death in order to cease living. That those newlinefor whom life is altogether bitter should be subjected to further bitterness and degradation newlineseems perverse legislation . Suicide is linked in contrasting ways with attempted suicide. newlineAttempted suicide was considered to be a kind of bungled or unsuccessful suicidal act, newlineperhaps quantitatively different but essentially representing the same behaviour. Many newlinepublished studies on suicide are really based on data on suicide attempters because they newlinewere the ones who survived to be studied and the findings were generalized uncritically to newlines