-The Hindu Business Line   Suicide is principally a mental health issue. This is why we must welcome its decriminalisation Our lawmakers need to be congratulated for setting aside their differences and acting in concert to remove one of the big colonial era blots on our statute books - Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code, which treated attempted Suicide as a crime. Since law and order is a State subject, a mere...

-The Indian Express Although the prevalence of sexual violence in India is the lowest in the world (8.5 per cent in 2013), it affects 27.5 million women in the country. Rapes reported to the police as sexual violence surged from 39 per day to 93 per day in 2013. In Uttar Pradesh alone, five rapes occurred in 36 hours. Even these are underestimations, for two reasons. One is the exclusion of...

-The Indian Express The Union government has decided to decriminalise Suicide. A funny interpretation could well be that the Modi government can now commit hara kiri with impunity. But it should be noted that the cases under Section 309, which criminalises Suicide, are haphazard, often concealing abetment to murder. Philosophically, it is argued that the right to life includes the right to die without provocation or abetment by anyone else. In a...

-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: An attempt to commit Suicide will no longer be an offence as the Home Ministry has decided to delete the provision from the statute book. This is despite concerns from some states that they will be handicapped from stopping persons who resort to threatening the government by sitting on fast until death or self immolation to press for their demands. The Home Ministry said on Tuesday that...

-PTI   Nagpur: The six Vidarbha districts, which are most prone to farmer Suicides, will get priority in allocation of solar pumps to overcome the power crisis in the region, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Thursday. "The state government has decided to set up five lakh solar pumps (for irrigation purpose) in the first phase and necessary global tenders will be floated later this month. Farmers in the Suicide-prone districts in...