A June 2012 report brought out by Lancet, a weekly medical journal which is one of the world`s best known, and most respected puts the spotlight on the phenomenon of suicides in India. The Lancet study gave a clear picture on suicides and their patterns and indirectly indicated how much there is a lack of understanding and preparedness in tackling the phenomenon. With suicides becoming a not so rare practice in the state too, an understanding of the country related study could well perhaps help understand its nuances. Going by the Lancet study, of the half million people reported to die of suicide worldwide every year, 20% are Indians while the suicide rate increased from 7.9 to 10.3 per 100,000 with very high rates in the southern states of the country with Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu showing a suicide rate of greater than 15 while in the Northern States of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jammu and Kashmir, the suicide rate is less than 3. There was no mention of specific data on the north eastern region of the country and while the study was triggered partly by the practice of farmer suicides across the country due to the inability to pay off agricultural debts, another study has also highlighted various social and cultural links to suicide with an interesting co-relation with domestic violence of women being a major risk towards suicide. Tellingly enough, the study linked female suicides to the state of relationships that included domestic violence and forced marriage while male suicides were related to work and financial difficulties. Apart from the Lancet study, there are various other studies that have linked suicide with depression.
In fact, there is no dearth of studies that have put out alarming figures on the country’s suicide scene but what is emerging the world over is the fact that mental health and more so, depression is yet to be even discussed threadbare, leave alone being taken seriously enough in the form of support systems and treatment access. Another study conducted by the Royal College of Psychiatrists, states that 24 percent of people with mental disorders ad 28 percent with post-traumatic stress disorders get treatment. The mention of the word ‘mental’ is still seen with social suspicion and great stigma, leading people to stop themselves from talking about their mental and emotional well being and in the process, prevent them from seeking timely treatment and counseling. The growing practice of suicides among the young and those in the productive years of their life not only robs the country of their contributions and work output but also ends up leaving behind families grappling with emotional issues including guilt and grief. Emotionally of course, suicide is still being debated in various circles with one section saying that those who commit suicide do so showing their emotional weakness while another group maintain that with every human instinct wanting to live, the step towards taking one’s life would take mental strength. Whatever be the reason, suicides have become a growing and increasing reality in our daily lives with people, including young people going to the length of cutting their lives short.
In India where the country’s Constitution enshrines the right to life as a fundamental right for its citizen, suicide is criminalized in an effort to deter the practice. But the country suicide statistics clearly show that the decriminalization of the act which has put a one year sentence to people who attempt to commit suicide plays no real impeding factor in arresting the practice. Through a 2011 ruling, the Supreme Court asked Parliament to consider quashing the law on suicide, but no action has been taken with Parliament yet to take up discussion on the matter. The current status holding forth means that Irom Sharmila continues to be kept in custody for her continued fast demanding for the repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act as her fast has been termed an ‘attempt to commit suicide’. Even with the growing number of suicide cases in the state, there is not much understanding even in terms of how it is being taken in legal and police processes. Section 306 of IPC 306 (Abetment of suicide) clearly states that if anyone commits suicide, whoever abets the commission of 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. But the fact is that cases of suicides are rather used to explain domestic related deaths instead of taking investigations on whether there have been instances of any other person(s) or factors that abets the suicide which is unfortunate.