Courts must not use abetment of suicide charge mechanically

Context: The Supreme Court on Friday held that the police must not deploy the
criminal provision of “abetment of suicide” casually or to assuage the
immediate feelings of the distraught family members of the deceased. Section
306 (abetment of suicide) of the erstwhile Indian Penal Code or corresponding
Section 108 read with Section 45 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 appeared
to be “too readily resorted to by the police”. To bring a case of abetment of
suicide the police must carefully examine whether the accused had played an
active role in instigating or facilitating the death of a person.

Key points

·       Abetment
of Suicide: Abetment of suicide is an offence under Section 306 of the Indian Penal
Code (IPC) Section 108 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The punishment for
this crime is up to 10 years of imprisonment and a fine. Section 45 of the
Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) defines abetment as when a person either
instigates someone to commit an act, conspires with others to do something
(leading to an illegal act or omission), or intentionally aids in its
execution.

·       SC’s
Interpretation: The offence requires “direct and alarming
encouragement or incitement” that leaves no option but fatal step. The court
laid down following guidelines to determine whether a situation involved
unbearable harassment or emotional exploitation that drove the deceased to
suicide-

Ø  The accused
created unbearable harassment or torture, leading the victim to view suicide as
the only escape.

Ø  The accused
exploited the victim's emotional vulnerability, making them feel worthless or
undeserving of life.

Ø  The accused
threatened harm to the victim's family or caused financial ruin.

Ø  The accused made
false allegations that damaged the victim's reputation, leading to public
humiliation and loss of dignity.

·       Related
Cases: M Mohan v The State, 2011 - The SC ruled that proving abetment of
suicide under Section 306 IPC requires a direct act with intent, leaving the
victim no option but suicide.

Ude Singh v
State of Haryana, 2019 - The SC held that proving abetment of suicide
depends on case specifics, requiring direct or indirect incitement that leaves
the victim no choice but suicide.

·       Statistics
Related to Suicide in India: The data compiled by the NCRB is based on
police-recorded first information reports (FIRs).

Ø  Surge in Student
Suicides - Student suicides in India have surged by 4% annually, outpacing the
overall suicide rate increase of 2%, despite a likely "under
reporting" of student suicide cases.

Ø  Gender Disparity
-
In 2022, male students constituted 53% of total student suicides. While male
suicides decreased by 6% from 2021, female student suicides saw a 7% rise.

Ø  Decade Trend - Over the past
decade, despite a slight decrease in the 0-24 age group population, student
suicides rose significantly from 6,654 to 13,044.

·       Legal
Norms Related to Suicide: Section 115 of Mental Healthcare Act, 2017 (MHCA)
states that attempted suicide is to be considered the result of severe stress,
and the individual is not to be prosecuted. BNS removes the Section of attempt
to commit suicide from the statute books, it doesn’t entirely decriminalize the
offence of attempting to die by suicide.