The government of India has decided to remove the law that criminalized attempts to suicide. The Home Ministry has decided to delete Section 309 (attempt to commit suicide) of the Indian Penal Code after 18 states and four union territories have supported the move. Till now, if a person survives an attempted suicide, he or she can be prosecuted under the law by the police and even sent behind bars for one year.
According to the survey in 2012, Tamil Nadu (12.5% of all suicides), Maharashtra (11.9%) and West Bengal (11.0%) had the highest proportion of suicides. Among large population states, Tamil Nadu and Kerala had the highest suicide rates per 100,000 people in 2012.
Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu plus Maharashtra have together accounted for 50.6% of the suicides reported in the country.
According to WHO report, India is ahead of even the USA when it comes to suicides. In India, suicide rate is 20.9 for one lakh population and in the USA; it is 13.7 for one lakh population. In United Kingdom, it is 6.9 for one lakh population.