Attempt to suicide is
not an offence anymore in our country because the government has removed ‘section
309’ of the ‘Indian penal code’ (IPC) from the ‘Law Book’. Still, the debate on
its being a right move has not completely settled, especially when a few legal
experts have opined that some sort of legal measure should exist to curb the
ever increasing suicide rate. But this move is really facilitating for those
who try to help the suicidal people through non-profitable organized manner. Being
an insider of such an entity, I can vouch for its utility.
During my post
graduation in a premier college at our country’s capital, one of our professors
committed the act by jumping from the open terrace in the top floor of its main
building. A canteen was there, and till then nobody had thought that it could
facilitate the access to that terrace for such an act. After that tragedy, the
canteen got shifted elsewhere in the campus and all the entries for any open
roof were closed. Perhaps the professor’s suicide was the cause of that
renovation, as perceived by the student community. Around the same time,
probably within a year or so, I found an advertisement in the newspaper asking
for the volunteers to help the suicidal and depressed people. Following my
instinct, I dialed the given number, only to be rejected, as they wanted the
commitments, which were not possible for me to provide at that point of time.
That little incident
stuck in my memory and many years later when I thought to contribute for a
social cause, the same idea of helping suicidal people came to the fore. I
searched around and found that the same sort of entity is still there, as if
waiting for my induction. This time I was serious, ready to commit my spare
time. There was no remuneration or fame, usually associated with many social
works. Even, ‘you will have to remain anonymous for the cause’, was the obvious
guideline.
My enthusiasm led to
the grilling in the multiple interviews like never before. I have faced a few
of them in my professional career, where one gets shot by the hard technical,
managerial and occasionally aspiration-based queries. But here, for a job that was
not even going to pay a single penny - rather I had to spend from my pocket
sometimes – the interviewers tried to scratch my emotions. They talked less and
listened more. For the first time, I was asked how I felt rather than how I
performed.
After selection, the
rigorous training started along with the fellow recruits. There, I realized the
importance of our feelings – how they remain choked for many people who are
unable to vent out. Surprisingly, there were many closets we found among
ourselves. Fortunately, they were not so critical as to hamper our daily
routine. For a depressed person, such pent-up emotions may lead to the drastic
step where he or she feels that death is a better option than life. Most of the
time, it is a momentary push of the mind that leads towards the suicide. If someone
can listen patiently without any judgment or advice, perhaps that moment may
pass. Though it’s a complex and very difficult issue to tackle the increasing
rate of suicide, such little measures may help in the long run.
And then I realized the
repercussion of IPC 309.
What if you pick a call
of the person trying the act? Legally, can you be implicated for assisting a
suicide? Moreover, a person who is supposed to be doing better after your
intervention may commit the act because of some unknown reason, then what? Would
you be labeled as wrong side of the law? Of course, there were mechanisms to
address such sensitive issue but that legality itself was enough to repel many
who could join this cause. Fortunately, they can now come forward, thanks to
the change in the law.
- A volunteer
