90 year old suicided

A 90 year old man from my neighborhood hanged himself to death on a tree. He was survived by a son and his family, who recently moved to another place for employment.

There could be many reasons for him to suicide. He might have felt alone. He might have lost the purpose of living. He might not want to become a burden for his son. He might not want to be a dependent. What ever be it we are going to see many more of these. Recently a family friend in his 60s went absconding and his skeleton was found hanging on a tree a month later. He never wanted to be a dependent even to his children.

These incidents points to a larger issue. With superior healthcare facilities available to us, our average life span is 75 years. This is comparable to many developed counties (US - 77 years). In developed countries elders have a government social security system. We too need systems, offering a helping hand to our reverent elders.

Another answer is legal euthanasia or mercy killing. This may sound rude to many of you. If we have so many rights for us to live our life as we wish, why not a right to die?