The House of Commons passed a motion that would make it illegal for someone to encourage suicide via the Internet after a Carleton student committed suicide last April, Canwest News reported Nov. 18.
First-year student Nadia Kajouji was allegedly encouraged to hang herself in front of a web cam by a Minnesota man she met in a chat room.
Kajouji did not hang herself, but jumped into the Rideau River where she was found dead.
Lead investigator Staff-Sgt. Uday Jaswal of the Ottawa Police Service said police were unable to charge Kajouji’s encourager because they couldn’t be sure “a criminal offence had taken place.”
Section 241 of the Criminal Code currently reads that anyone who “councils a person to commit suicide, or aids and abets a person to commit suicide, whether suicide ensues or not, is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to” spend up to 14 years in jail.
Harold Albrecht, the Conservative MP for the Kitchener-Conestoga riding, told CanWest the code needs to be updated to specify exactly what “aiding” means.
“We’re trying to give a clear message to anyone who might presume to be able to hide behind the anonymity of the Internet and carry out their devious schemes,” Albrecht said.
The motion Albrecht put forward in Parliament to clarify the Criminal Code passed 230-0 in the House.
Albrecht said he hopes the motion will help pass a bill in the future that will make the proposed changes legally binding.
Kajouji’s brother Marc Kajouji said the motion is a positive thing.
“This will represent that [Kajouji] can still help in a positive way,” he told Canwest.