Whose Life Is It Anyway?

Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code

One of the most ridiculous laws in India is set to be junked. On 10 December, the Government announced that Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code, which makes an attempted suicide a criminal offence punishable by up to one year, is being repealed. Clearly, for someone willing to commit suicide, a possible year in jail was never exactly a deterrent. If at all the law did anything, it just made the trauma of a survivor worse.

Such a law, like many others that penalise actions which hurt no one else, only serves as a harassment or extortion tool for the police. As far back as 1996, the Supreme Court had said in a ruling that this was not a law that deserved to be in the lawbooks. Nonetheless, the Bihar government has reportedly expressed doubts on the Home Ministry’s move, saying that the section may be needed to take action against suicide bombers.

It goes to show just how fertile and wayward the imagination of bureaucrats can be—an anti-suicide law against suicide bombers!

Anti-suicide lawhome ministryIPC