Married men who commit suicide: Supreme Court to consider PIL for National Commission for Men

A PIL asking for the creation of guidelines to address married men who commit themselves after experiencing domestic abuse and for the establishment of a “National Commission for Men” to represent their concerns will be heard by the Supreme Court on July 3.

The PIL has been scheduled for hearing on Monday, according to the website of the Supreme Court, which is presided over by Justices Surya Kant and Dipankar Datta.

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) statistics on unintentional deaths in India released in 2021, which said that 1,64,033 individuals died by suicide nationwide that year, is used in the argument made by attorney Mahesh Kumar Tiwari. The petition said that 28,680 of them were married women and 81,063 of these were married males.

In the year 2021, almost 33.2% of males committed suicide owing to family concerns, and 4.8% because of problems with their marriage. According to the petition, which cited statistics from the NCRB, “Total 1,18,979 males have committed suicide this year, which is about (72%) and total 45,026 women have committed suicide, which is around (27%).

The petition has also asked the National Human Rights Commission for guidance on how to handle the problem of married men committing suicide and recognise the claims of men who have experienced domestic abuse.

“Give direction to the first respondent (Union of India) to issue proper instructions through the Ministry of Home Affairs to the police authority/Station House Officer of every Police Station to accept/receive the complaint of victims of domestic violence or those are under stress due to family problems and marriage-related issues and refer the same to the State Human Right Commission for its proper disposal, until the proper legislation is enacted by the Government of I.”

“Issue a direction/recommendation to the Law Commission of India to carry out research on the issue of suicides of married men who are suffering from domestic violence or under family problem and marriage related issues and make necessary report in order to constitute a forum like National Commission for Men,” the petition urged.