It's a good attempt on the part of Shilpa to underline some of the causes behind suicide but it would always remain difficult to cover the entire gamut!

The question has been replied by the questio0ner himself. Killing is a crime. Killing oneself is as much a crime as killing others. Hence, suicide is a crime. Secondly, everyone has a role in society and he/she is a social asset. So, I am also an asset of the society and so cannot be permitted to destroy this (myself).

shilpa wrote:
[quote]contributory factors include:

1. Rejection: Some people, having suffered from rejection either from parents or from friends see suicide as a way of ending it all. Most people who use this method of trying to escape from the problem of rejection are people who are from broken homes, whose parents went their own ways leaving them in the care of either their grand parents or their aunts/uncles. They eventually feel completely rejected by their parents and decide to end their lives.

2. Shame: This is one of the greatest reasons for suicide. Having been involved in an act that is so shameful e.g. stealing, adultery, etc some people decide to end their lives since they cannot stand the shame such act has brought. Others could be as a result of some shameful health problem such as epilepsy, or even sexual failure/impotence.

3. Failure: Failure in marriage, academics, business, dating, landing a job, etc could make one conclude he can never succeed in life and instead of living a life devoid of success the best option they conclude, is to take their life.

4. Hard drugs: drugs are capable of causing a distortion in the individual's reasoning process, making him do what ordinarily he would never contemplate. An individual who is under the influence of drug is capable of doing any unreasonable and unthinkable thing including suicide. Suicide is contemplated when provoked while under the influence of the drug, or as a result of frustration due to failure or inability to obtain the drug at a particular time.[/quote]

This is an elaborate exercise to probe into cause of suicide. But the question is not about causes of suicide. The question is as to why this is considered a crime.

Suicide is the only crime that one may successfully commit escaping punishment. There is another peculiarity. Crimes are against other parties. This crime is against oneself.
It is no use listing suicide as a crime as only attempt to commit and not actual commitment can be punished. The person who commits or attempts to commit suicide is in fact not a criminal but a mental patient who has lost all hope from his own self, others and society. An unsuccessful offender needs care, compassion and psychological counseling and guidance how to rehabilitate himself with dignity. It is no use punishing him. It is not possible to punish a successful offender. Thus the punishment is not for offence but for failure to commit it.

Yes attempting for suicide is a crime.The thought of committing suicide is very momentary.It is an act of cowards. :(

An interesting fact that is found from the wikipedia.
"In a study of 300,000 male U.S. Army soldiers, a definitive link between suicide and smoking was observed with those smoking over a pack a day having twice the suicide rate of non-smokers."

It's a psychological as well as psychiatric problem in most of the cases.

chinmoymukherjee wrote:
[quote]It's a psychological as well as psychiatric problem in most of the cases.[/quote]

If so, this should not be treated as crime but only a health problem requiring medical treatment. Indian Penal code needs change.

I am firmly of this view that it should not be viewed as crime but a purely medical challenge!

I think the reason it's been made a crime as well is to further dissuade people from contemplating suicide. If a person is hell bent on committing suicide then nothing will stop him. But if he's just contemplating it, the fact that it's a crime might make him think of alternatives.