经济学人:绝望的间歇 印度将"自杀未遂"合法化(1)

 　　Asia 亚洲

　　Suicide in India: A break for the despairing 印度的自杀：一场绝望的间歇

　　India decriminalises attempted suicide. 印度将“自杀未遂”合法化。

　　Gorav Gupta has spent his life helping¹ the mentally ill. Gorav Gupta一生致力于帮助精神疾病患者。

　　But when suicidal patients seek help at his psychiatric hospital in Delhi, he turns them away. 但是当有自杀患者去他在德里的精神病咨询医院求助时，他不接诊。

　　Mr Gupta says he cannot handle the “legal hassle” that might ensue if they try to end their lives while in his care. Gupta解释说，要是他的病人在他的治疗期间选择自杀，那么他可搞不定的这个“法律上的大麻烦”。

　　Attempted suicide, as well as “any act towards the commission” of suicide, has for years been a crime in India. 数年来，自杀未遂及有集体自杀倾向的行为在印度都被定为犯罪。

　　But on March 27th, the Lok Sabha, India's lower house, passed a package of mental-health reforms, among them one that decriminalises attempted suicide. 然而，在3月27日，印度众议院的下议院通过了精神健康的改革方案，其中一项便是自杀未遂行为合法化。

　　The bill declares access to psychiatric care to be a right for all Indians, and promises a huge boost in funding to help provide it. 这项法案宣布所有印度人都有机会有权利接受精神治疗，并且法案还保证会大力支持这个项目。

　　Policymakers in India have long argued that people driven to attempt suicide need rehabilitation². 印度的决策者认为那些自杀未遂的人们是需要接受精神治疗的。

　　But under the previous law, they faced punishment: a fine and up to a year in prison. 但是先前的法律让这些人接受的是惩罚：受一年或一年以上的牢狱之苦。

　　Prosecution³ was rare, but the threat of it to extract bribes⁴ from the families of those who attempted suicide was not, says Soumitra Pathare, who helped draft the new legislation. 帮助起草这项法案的Soumitra Pathare说，帮助起草这项新法案的Soumitra Pathare表示，起诉虽寥寥无几，但威胁之处在于对那些自杀未遂之人的家庭贪赃枉法的比比皆是。

　　Others point out that the government has previously⁵ used laws against attempted suicide to lock up activists⁶ who stage hunger strikes. 其他人指出，政府曾用自杀未遂行为的法律来制止激进分子的绝食抗议。

　　The next step in mental-health reform is to allocate⁷ more money and expand the workforce⁸, says Mr Pathare. Pathare说精神健康改革方案的下一步就是要增加拨款和扩大员工队伍。

1 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

2 rehabilitation   

n.康复，悔过自新，修复，复兴，复职，复位

参考例句：

• He's booked himself into a rehabilitation clinic.他自己联系了一家康复诊所。
• No one can really make me rehabilitation of injuries.已经没有人可以真正令我的伤康复了。

3 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

4 bribes   

n.贿赂( bribe的名词复数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂v.贿赂( bribe的第三人称单数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• corrupt officials accepting bribes 接受贿赂的贪官污吏

5 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

6 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 allocate   

vt.分配，分派；把…拨给；把…划归

参考例句：

• You must allocate the money carefully.你们必须谨慎地分配钱。
• They will allocate fund for housing.他们将拨出经费建房。

8 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。