Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION
Suicide is a serious problem and it requires great mental and emotional support from others to be able to cure this problem. One of the biggest reasons is mental illness and it is very important to prevent suicidal behavior and make efforts to read these early warning signals. People have witnessed many high-profile suicide cases such as Jiah Khan’s, Divya Bharti’s, Tunisha Sharma’s, Sushant Singh Rajput’s, and many more.
Each year, India reports many suicides committed by people in the age group of 18-45 years due to several reasons. There are so many factors that can combinally lead a person to take their own life and there is nothing more horrifying than taking your own life and killing yourself. Even experts can’t fully understand the reasons why some people do this but there are some life circumstances and mental health issues which play a vital role.
- Depression
- Hopelessness
- Bipolar disorder
- Substance use disorder
- Psychosis
Is suicide legal in India?
In India, there exists a conflict between Indian Penal Code and Mental Healthcare Act. Section 309 of IPC is a legislation passed during the British era that classified murdering or attempting to kill oneself as a crime against the state.
Attempting to commit suicide is no more a crime under section 309 of the IPC in India. Article 21 of the constitution states that to quote “No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law”. Article 21 does talk about the right to life but no article talks about the “Right to die”.
Section 309 of the Indian penal code states that to quote “Whoever attempts to commit suicide and does any act towards the commission of such offence shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a period which may extend to one year”.
Now As per the new act of 2017 in any attempted suicide case government will have to provide rehabilitation, care, therapy, and treatment to the person who was trying to commit suicide to reduce the risk of recurrence of the same incident.
“Every person has the right to live life with dignity. whether he has any mental illness or not”
The act of 2017 says that there shall be no discrimination against the mentally ill person on any basis including gender, caste, class, social and political beliefs, religion, culture, etc. because these provisions try to bring the mentally ill person at par with the physically ill in terms of healthcare.
List of celebrities who committed suicide
- Jiah Khan
- Sushant Singh Rajput
- Pratyusha Banerjee
- Vaishali Takkar
- Kushal Punjabi
- Sejal Sharma
- Disha Salian
- Tunisha Sharma
- Asif Basra
- Samir Sharma
Who is Jiah Khan?
Jiah Khan was an American citizen who worked in a couple of Hindi films between 2007-2010. She made her film debut in the 2007 Ram Gopal Verma film Nishabd alongside megastar Amitabh Bachchan. She was nominated for a Filmfare Best Female Debut Award. Besides. she was seen in Aamir Khan starrer Ghajini and the 2010’s comedy film Housefull.
Who is Soorja Pancholi
He is the son of actors Aditya Pancholi and Zarina Wahab, he debuted with the romantic action film Hero in 2015. Sooraj was an assistant director in films like Guzaarish and Ek Tha Tiger.
Jiah Khan Suicide Case
Sooraj Pancjoli was allegedly in a relationship with Jiah. Jiah’s mother Rabia Khan alleged that her daughter was murdered. In October 2013, Rabia moved to the Bombay High Court seeking a CBI probe in the case while alleging that her daughter had been murdered.
On the order of the Bombay High Court, the CBI took over the probe from the Maharashtra Police in July 2014. Rabia claimed that her daughter was in an abusive relationship with Sooraj Pancholi. Sooraj and Jiah started dating in September 2012.
Sooraj Pancholi was charged based on the letter purportedly written by Khan, who was found hanging in her Juhu home on 3 June 2013.
The CBI claimed the note narrated her “intimate relationship, physical abuse, and mental and physical torture” allegedly at the hands of Pancholi, which led to her committing suicide. The case was reassigned to a special CBI court in 2021 after the sessions court said it did not have jurisdiction over the case as the CBI had probed it.
A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Mumbai gave its verdict in connection with the death of actor Jiah Khan. Actor Sooraj Pancholi, accused of abetting Jiah Khan’s suicide, was acquitted in the case. He was at the CBI court when the verdict was declared.