Dialogue: Right to kill oneself?
So many suicides. We all just read about a horrific suicide a week back. There are suicides because of ragging, financial troubles, job losses, failed romances, exam results, you name it. This post is not about why suicides happen or why they should not happen or how to prevent them. This post is about suicides but from a different angle. It’s certainly not the social angle, you can possibly call it the legal angle. Go on. Come up with your critical thoughts.
Buddy: Did you see that news about that Indian techie in US who killed himself and his family too?
Mate: Yeah sad. Let him commit suicide but why did he kill his family?Pal: What do you mean by ‘let him commit suicide’?
Mate: I meant it’s his life and he ended it but he had no right to take others’ lives.
Buddy: Not exactly, mate! Attempt to suicide is an offence as per the Indian laws.Mate: That’s bad. I wonder why an attempt to suicide is an offence?
Pal: In this case this guy has killed his family too. Think about this. Lone breadwinner in the family commits suicide leaving his dependants stranded. Sounds like a crime?
Mate: No. It doesn’t.Buddy: See if one commits suicide you can’t do anything. If he was caught attempting, he must be certainly punished.
Pal: Exactly. Such a cowardly thing to do for someone responsible for his family.Mate: Why would you punish someone who was already going to end his life?
Buddy: Punish him because he was cruel enough to escape while leaving his family carry his baggage.
Mate: Ok, see it from this perspective. Everyone has a right to end his/her own life. Who has more right than yourself on your life? If you talk about responsibility, why just talk about attempt to suicide, while there are so many other irresponsible acts?Buddy: Well, I kinda agree. I don’t think someone can insist me to live when I don’t want.
Pal: Then it’s kinda easy isn’t it? I live my life the way I want. I drown into loans, drink and enjoy myself and end my life when I’m stuck. Irresponsible!Mate: See, if you talk about responsbility, is there a law that says one cannot take sanyas which also involves abandoning the family?
Pal: That’s different.
Mate: In what way? Sanyas has an absolute disregard for the family the same way suicide has.
Buddy: Okay, if I’m single and I have no dependants, will I still be caught for attempting to commit suicide?
Mate: Plus, if I have a right to live, I must have the right to die.Pal: I got an answer. Anyone who attempts to commit suicide may not be in a state of mental balance. They can be a danger to society until they are rehabilitated.
Mate: That’s a good one. You got me there.Buddy: Still you don’t have to charge him with a crime. Just take this guy to a doctor or a psychiatrist, why charge him under the Indian Penal Code?
Pal: But you admit that someone who has had a failed suicide attempt can be a danger to society?
Mate: I’d say they would be depressed like hell. So the most dominant feeling must be that of depression and not anger or frustration or revenge which normally result in fatal criminal acts.
Pal: Technically, the police will have to arrest someone to admit this guy into a hospital. Without an arrest, they don’t have a mandate.
Buddy: Oh then arrest is just a legal vehicle for a medical destination
Pal: I think so! But I’ve also heard of one-year imprisonment for some of them who have attempted suicide.Mate: My stance is very simple. Irrespective of the situation, anyone has the right to end his/her life and that’s it.
Pal: I don’t agree. Attempt to suicide is a punishable offence.
Buddy: I’m not sure!
All I can say all the departed one’s don’t have ‘Courage’ to face life.
I believe, our life started on its own, so it has to leave on its own. Though the law condemns on suicides but legitimately law or any relation doesn’t have any control on one’s decisions as no one in this world is living next to each other all 24 hrs. As commented in “What does your religion say” post – It all depends on one’s Karma and it goes on.
All these dialogues depend on the assumption that your life is your propertly.
What if that if your life is not your properly but the as of Governments?
May not be a sound logic… But still i agree that my life is not my property….
I strongly feel that life is a blessing …packaged by God and given to us and killing oneself is an easy task when one is unable to face problems….ofcourse it;s normal to have such thoughts but I do not have a right to take my life which is a gift by God. A strong person will always come out of the troubles but has to have the courage and the support to be able to get out of that dilemna…..Cheers …one gets to live once so let’s enjoy rather than crib …..It’s rightly said …’When it rains all the birds fly to shelter but eagle alone avoids the rain by flying above the cloud. Problem is common to all but ATTITUDE makes the difference……
It is easy to talk about being positive and all that. What drives people to kill themselves? Killing oneself needs extraordinary courage, and it takes extraordinary situations for a person to commit suicide. But unfortunately, we talk a lot of nonsense about positiveness and don’t for a moment think from the person’s point of view and consider his/her options. I think we don’t think enough about death. That’s why we have a law that punishes a victim for trying to commit suicide instead of helping him/her.
@Narak – Funny but interesting thought. Life owned by the government!
@ilbrutto – You said the unpopular but correct thing. Even I thought people who commit suicide have a lot of courage. It’s not a cowardly act, it needs a lot of courage.
@Ilbrutto – You are my man!
As a kid I have seen a women who tried burning herself to death and failed in a government hospital (Worst thing a kid can ever see). One couldn’t ever imagine being alive after that! The whole body must burn like hell certainly! I always wondered how crazy people are to have tried it in the first place!
After having grown up I completely understand the situation that might have driven someone to do that! When something heartbreaking and unbearable happens that makes someone terribly believe there is no use living after that, they drive themselves to such crazy acts! We cannot say it as a courageous act or a cowardly act or a punishable act! I believe they simply don’t care! They go completely out of mind and no second thoughts!
Whats more challenging is to make them come out of it and make them believe that there is a meaning for their life as well. It is a punishable act as someone might try to create incorrect reasons for them to live! Social evils like terrorists can also be made from there!
It is always nice to have someone around such innocents to take complete care of them until they come out of that disgusting indigestible situation completely! If not result is immediate, within seconds and certainly negative! (That’s why they call it out of mind)
I’m completely confused here. Is the bar in favor of suicide as an acceptable practice…
Suicide is wrong… Period… Its like a movie which has an interval and never starts…
Suicide is a bad thing which can remain in a society. Imagine a society which accepts suicide as an acceptable end to ones life…
These things can are possible.
1. You can see lots of universities opening a new department for suicides… (PG diploma in suicide practices)
2. like a yoga teacher a suicide teacher will explain the 10 best ways to suicide
3. and stuffs like that
Suicide is a wrong thing to practice. It may be a brave thing from one point of view. Just because its brave to attempt does not mean that it can be lawful and acceptable. If you accept suicide as a braveful act then you might have to accept all the terrorist suicide bombers attempts.
Narak
Bad argument. Attempted suicide bombing is not an attempted suicide. It is an attempted mass murder.
Hi, Let me begin by saying that I am totally new to blogging !! But when I came across your blog, I was interested becuase it matched my prefrences of reading and writing. So here it goes..
“Suicide or atempt to suicide” is nothing else but “aggression turned inwards” (instead of the outer world). Therefore it might not be wrong in all cases to think that a person who has a faild attemt to suicide might turn out to be dangerous for the society. Still, I assert that all people going through some psychological trouble like this should be treated with sympathy and not hate or fear.
The law does not accpt the act mainly for one reason that it can potentially be misused by law breakers.I think all people at some point in their life go through this phase of “suicidal ideation” but not everybody attempts suicide.
This is an idea that can will come to human minds for ages to come and it has always been there.