BHOPAL: A middle-aged farmer, who allegedly attempted suicide over inflated electricity bill in Bhopal on March 22, has been booked by the city police under Section 309 (attempt to commit suicide) – ten months after the IPC section was decriminalized.
The farmer identified as Awadh Narayan Sisodiya, a native of Behta village under Bairagarh police station attempted suicide on March 22 before the office of power distribution company Madhya Kshetra Vidyut Vitaran Company Limited.
The farmer had alleged that he was forced to attempt the extreme step as he had received an inflated power bill worth Rs 77,900 against his irrigation connection. He was subsequently admitted at hospital, where he is recovering.
According to Bairagarh police station in-charge Ajay Kumar Mishra, “two cases have been registered in the matter. While one case pertains to abetment to attempt suicide, the other case pertains to attempted suicide which has been registered against the farmer u/s 309 of IPC.”
Importantly, the Section 309 of IPC which deals with attempted suicide was decriminalized under the Mental Healthcare Act in May 2018.
The Bairagarh police station in-charge Ajay Kumar Mishra, when contacted by The New Indian Express on Tuesday, about how the farmer was booked under the IPC section which has been decriminalised ten months ago, responded, “we’re yet to receive the notification from the government about the decriminalization of the concerned IPC section, due to which the case has been registered under Section 309 of IPC against the farmer,” said Mishra.