Decriminalising suicide bids

Imposing criminal sanctions on those who attempt suicide is inhumane and ineffective. Members of our legislative bodies are slowly beginning to understand that legal action is the poorest recourse to take. What these individuals need is medical or more specifically psychological treatment. Initially, the Senate Standing Committee on Interior voiced some reservations about the Criminal Law Amendment Bill 2017 fearing that more conservative circles within the country would oppose this piece of legislation on religious grounds.

Fortunately, a week later, the committee shed some of those reservations and cleared the bill for onward approval. By decriminalising attempted suicide we will not be making the act morally acceptable in any way; the state will only be taking one of the first steps towards the treatment of these desperate and unhappy individuals. Britain took the step in 1961 when its parliament recognised the psychological needs of those who attempt to take their own lives. Fifty-six years later, the Indian parliament decriminalised suicide attempts. In the greater interest of mental health, Pakistan should enact similar legislative measures now.

Given the high levels of stress and the biochemical changes in the brain that together act as a trigger for suicide, people are more vulnerable than ever to these tendencies in today’s tension-filled world. Psychiatrists believe that punishment in any form proves largely ineffective because a mentally ill person is not intimidated by it. They also argue that by imposing criminal sanctions society is reinforcing its support for the disease and not the patient. Another reason to back the proposed legislation is the dramatic increase in the rate of mortality: fear of punishment may be actually aiding suicides and blocking chances of treatment — at least that is what some legislators say.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 29^th, 2017.

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