Health experts push for change in law declaring attempted suicide a crime

A man contemplates suicide. WHO ranks Kenya’s suicide death rate at number 29 in the world. FILE PHOTO

What you need to know:

  • Attempted suicide is a serious problem requiring mental health interventions, but continues to be treated as a criminal offence under the penal code.
  • Putting attempted suicide and murder in the same line, she said, is unhelpful and only serves to screen the problem and endanger more lives.

The Ministry of Health wants attempted suicide decriminalized.

The Ministry’s head of substance abuse and management, Dr Catherine Syengo Mutisya, said Friday that in over 90 per cent cases of suicide and attempted suicide, there was a mental health condition.

Depression is the leading cause of suicide in the world. Others are anxiety, bipolar and eating disorders.

Dr Mutisya said talks within the Ministry had already begun and that they had initiated talks with the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) to chart a way forward and accordingly recommend to the government to start the process of repealing the law.

“We have had discussions and they (KHRC) are taking it up. We want attempted suicide to be recognized as a psychiatric illness not a criminal offence,” she said and added: “Any person who attempts to kill himself is unwell. Sick people need treatment and care, not jail.”

Attempted suicide is a serious problem requiring mental health interventions, but continues to be treated as a criminal offence under the penal code.

The law states that any person who attempts to kill himself is guilty of a misdemeanour, generally punishable with imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or with a fine, or with both.

According to Dr Mutisya, it is an archaic law that needs to be changed.

Putting attempted suicide and murder in the same line, she said, is unhelpful and only serves to screen the problem and endanger more lives.

Most countries across the world no longer criminalize the suicidal attempts.

She said the Ministry was proposing an urgent need to develop a framework to deliver mental health services to all those who attempt suicide.

The medic said decriminalization of suicide attempt will serve to cut down the undue stigma and avoid punishment in the aftermath of an incident, and lead to a more accurate collection of suicide-related statistics, as well as accessibility to opportunities of prevention.

Dr Mutisya was speaking at the maiden Suicide Prevention Day celebrations in Kenya at Mathari Hospital.

A yellow and orange suicide awareness ribbon was launched. The celebrations will be marked around the world today.

According to WHO, about 7,126 people commit suicide in Kenya every year.

Attempted suicides are at least 20 times more common than the completed suicide bringing the figure of attempts to 142,520.

WHO ranks Kenya’s suicide death rate at number 29 in the world.

But Dr Mutisya says the number is higher than 7,126 because most of the cases go unreported and they do not have clear records.