X, a married woman, being annoyed by family quarrels, threatens her husband that she would commit…

X is not liable for an attempt to commit suicide. First, under the general criminal law distinction between preparation and attempt (illustrated by Queen-Empress v. Ramakka, (1884) ILR 8 Mad 5), merely running towards a well after uttering a threat does not cross the stage of preparation into an attempt, because X was intercepted at a distance before reaching the well and still had a locus poenitentiae (opportunity to change her mind) before performing any act directly towards jumping in. Second, under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS), a general attempt to commit suicide (formerly Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code) is no longer an offence at all; Section 226 of the BNS penalizes only an attempt to commit suicide made with the intent to compel or restrain a public servant from discharging an official duty.