KUALA LUMPUR, 26 Nov 2018:
The Malaysia Crime Prevention Foundation (MCPF) has urged the government to review existing laws so as not to criminalise those who attempt suicide.
MCPF senior vice-chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye noted affected persons were not criminals but were suffering from mental illness such as depression.
“The government should seriously consider to abolish Section 309 of the Penal Code (which criminalises suicide) since people who attempt suicide, due to mental illness, must be given psychiatric treatment and rehabilitation.
“Criminalising depressed persons or those who are mentally sick is inhumane, unthinkable and unacceptable,” the Mental Health Promotion Advisory Council member said in a statement yesterday.
Lee said the government and insurance companies must play their roles by ensuring medical insurance coverage could be extended to include psychiatric disorders.
He further said barriers should be added to stop people from jumping off a building and they should also be considered as a feature in the design of new structures.
The call comes after a man had threatened to jump from the sixth floor of a shopping mall here before being talked out of it.
– Bernama