Advocate Md. Raihan Ali

Suicide is the process of intentionally sacrificing one's life or killing oneself voluntarily. Unexpected events are suicides. Knowing that suicide is a great sin, many are surrendering themselves to suicide. The world poet Rabindranath Tagore said, ‘I do not want to die in a beautiful world.’ Surviving the heinous act of suicide. There is a story behind every suicide and this story is a new story by sacrificing one's life and ending the autobiography. Now the question is, why are people committing suicide so much? Or why this suicidal tendency?

Experts say that people are choosing to commit suicide due to stress, depression, lack of self-confidence, fatigue and harassment. According to a study, 39.6 lakh people commit suicide every year in Bangladesh. Although the suicide rate among boys abroad is high, Bangladesh is an exception. In Bangladesh, the tendency of suicide is higher among women and it is more common among young women. Many studies have shown that people can commit suicide for a variety of reasons, including depression, personality problems, serious mental illness or mild mental illness.

In addition to drug addiction, anxiety, guilt, suicidal ideation, illiteracy, poverty, marital strife, love strife, deprivation, chronic illness, sexual abuse, parental abuse, poor test results, failure in love and cheating. Committed suicide. In many cases, the cause of suicide remains unknown. About 600,000 men and women commit suicide each year in the world, far more than in any other war. In other words, 1 woman or man is committing suicide every 40 seconds. The World Health Organization's' Preventing Suicide: A Source for Media Professionals 2018 'survey says,' 1 million people commit suicide in the world every year. One suicide occurs every 40 seconds. 'Another survey says,' The number of suicides has increased by 80 percent in the last 45 years. Suicide is one of the three leading causes of death for people aged 15 to 44 in the world today. Let's take a look at the state of suicide in our country. The Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) keeps track of suicides in the country. According to their data, 10 thousand 749 people committed suicide in the country in 2016. And in November 2016, this number was 10 thousand 256 people. At present this number has definitely increased. According to the data collected, on an average, more than 29 people are committing suicide every day in the country. Among them the number of young people is more. On the other hand, a statistic has shown that in 2016, more than 11,000 people committed suicide in the country.

At that time it was expected that by 2020 this number would reach one person every 20 seconds. The World Health Organization also feared that by 2020, 1.5 million people worldwide would commit suicide each year. At least 10 to 20 times more people will attempt suicide. In the last one year, 14,438 men and women have committed suicide across the country. Family complications, deteriorating relationships, frustration with studies, financial crisis are the main reasons for these suicides. A report by the Anchal Foundation, a youth organization, paints a picture of suicide in the country. The report has been prepared on the basis of information collected from 3 national newspapers, 19 local newspapers, hospitals and police stations from 6 March 2020 to 28 February 2021. 322 suicide cases were selected for monitoring.

The Aanchal Foundation claims that the number of suicides in 2020 has increased by 44.36 percent compared to 2019. They compared the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics' death toll last year. According to the organization, the number of suicides in a year is more than 14 thousand. And according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, in 2019, more than 10,000 people across the country committed suicide. The increase in the number of suicides in this one year interval is an ominous sign. We are really scared to see so many suicide statistics. Just as suicide is an abominable act from a religious point of view, the law also makes it a crime to attempt suicide or to incite or assist in suicide.
Section 309 of the Penal Code, 180 states that if a person attempts suicide and commits an act for the purpose of committing a similar offense, he shall be punished with imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or with fine or with both. Section 307 of the said Act states that if a person commits suicide, the person who assists or incites to commit suicide shall be punished with imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years or with hard labor or in addition with fine. In addition, Section 305 of the Act states that if a person under the age of eighteen, a lunatic, a delusional person, a fool, or a person commits suicide while intoxicated, the person who aids or abets the suicide is liable to death or life imprisonment. Or imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years and also a fine.

Is suicide only responsible for suicide? No, the family, society and the surrounding conditions are largely responsible for this? The question remains to the dear readers. This society cannot be free from responsibility by blaming suicide. This society and family also have to bear the burden of such heinous deeds. Is it so easy for a person who wants to end his life by committing suicide even if he wants to stand on his head in the face of various challenges while risking his life for the betterment of his life? Not so easy to do.

Therefore, the family as well as the society has to identify the circumstances behind the suicide.Why a family member is depressed or emotionally depressed should be addressed by other family members. Even the society has to be diligent in solving the problems of that family member. People from all walks of life must come forward. Public awareness should be raised to awaken the religious aspect of the great sin of suicide in every neighborhood.

Basically life is not so trivial it has to be understood among the people. Life is a struggle to ignite the flames, it has to climb the front stairs through struggle. Total life cannot fail in the slightest failure. Life is in the name of succeeding by trying hard to identify why all the tables of life are failing again and again. Through these talks and discussions, meetings, seminars or meetings, local people's representatives, administration and government initiatives have to create public awareness. As the number of suicides at an alarming rate is on the rise, the society and the government have to work together to increase it by reducing the scope of various measures at the same time to reduce it without unilaterally blaming the suicides.

Author: Columnist, Advocate,Judge Court, Khulna.
Email: md007rayhan@gmail.com