IPC 309 and a Suicide Helpline

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.

And it’s always heartening to unlock the choked emotions of fellow humans, though it requires skill as well as patience. Whether the law of the land supports such endeavor or not, we should always keep in mind that a suicidal person is only a victim that needs help.

- A volunteer