KUALA LUMPUR: The Dewan Rakyat today approved the bill to abolish Section 309 of the Penal Code, which provides penalties for suicide attempts, in a move to decriminalise suicide in Malaysia.
Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Ramkarpal Singh said it was aimed at preventing suicide attempts and reducing such cases; encouraging those suffering to seek help and to remove the stigma against suicide.
"We are taking the approach to do away with punitive actions and moving towards rehabilitative measures.
"We hope that more people who are in need of help will come forward and seek treatment and at the same time, we will be able to reduce the number of suicide cases in future," he said in his speech during the debate session.
He said there was no clear evidence that the law that criminalised suicide had helped to reduce the number of such cases.
He said those who attempted suicide should not be penalised but instead brought to the hospital for further assessment and given necessary treatment.
"Section 309 is a provision (created) from the 19th century due to the old belief that criminalisation was the best way to prevent suicide attempts.
"Based on the approach taken by other countries, treatment, and not prosecution, is the most appropriate action to address the issue."
Ramkarpal said the rationale for the move to repeal the section included the prevalence of depression and suicide risks; increase in mental health-related issues and suicide cases; and the classification of suicide attempt as an illness.
He said a study published last year found that countries that had amended law to decriminalise suicide had seen a decrease in related cases.
He said the bill also dealt with abetment of suicide attempts, which he said would be maintained, but would be differentiated in categories of people being influenced to resort to suicide.
He said penalties must be enforced and enhanced for cases involving children and persons who lack mental capacity as they were more easily influenced and manipulated compared to other victims.
The move to decriminalise suicide also sees the amendments to two other laws, namely, Criminal Procedure Code (Amendment) (No.2) 2023 and Mental Health (Amendment) Bill 2023.
Debate continues.