Arrested man booked for attempting suicide inside Lajpat Nagar lock-up

Attempting suicide was decriminalised last year after the central government notified the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017. Police, however, they booked the man after taking legal opinion in the matter.

Police on Thursday booked a 23-year-old man for attempting suicide after he allegedly tried to strangle himself inside the Lajpat Nagar police station lockup.

Police claimed that the accused was “frustrated” after his mother refused to meet him following his arrest. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Attempting suicide was decriminalised last year after the central government notified the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017. Police, however, they booked him after taking legal opinion on the matter.

The man was arrested after he was found in possession of a countrymade pistol. He allegedly attempted to strangle himself using his shirt, police said.

Chinmoy Biswal, deputy commissioner of police (south-east), claimed that the accused was “frustrated” after his mother refused to meet him following his arrest.

“He had wanted to meet his mother, but she refused to have anything to do with him,” said Biswal. “He also told us that he did not want to go to jail,” said Biswal, denying that police harassed the man.

Once it was clear that the accused had survived, police booked him for attempting suicide. “In view of the incident, we have registered a case under IPC section 309,” said Biswal.“We consulted public prosecutors who said that the law on attempting suicide has not been totally repealed and that the man could still be booked for attempting suicide. We will probe if he was mentally ill.”

DCP Biswal said the accused was earlier booked in seven cases of theft and snatching. He was arrested on Wednesday evening after a police team allegedly found him carrying a pistol.

The alleged suicide attempt happened around 11.45 am on Thursday.

“The police guard and the investigating officer (IO) noticed him covering himself with a blanket and frantically moving inside. They found it suspicious and checked to find that he had removed his shirt and was using it to try and strangulate himself,” said the DCP.

Police claimed that the man was immediately rushed to AIIMS trauma centre. “He was attended to by doctors immediately. He is out of danger now,” said the officer.