Aruna - 42 long years of death

1996: SC overrules 1994 verdict and holds that ‘right to die’ is not part of ‘right to life’ under Article 21 of the Constitution. It also holds that euthanasia is illegal.

Aruna Shanbaug was denied ‘right to die’ but the ‘right to life’ was also cruelly taken away from her.

Shanbaug was a staff nurse at the KEM Hospital when she was attacked by sweeper Sohanlal Bharta Valmiki on the evening of November 27,1973. To immobilise her, he wrapped a dog chain around Shanbaug’s neck and yanked her back with it. Valmiki tried to rape her but sodomised her after finding that she was menstruating.

Even after 37 years of being in a vegetative state, since that day of the assault and a medical panel set up under the Supreme Court's directive concluding that she met "most of the criteria of being in a permanent vegetative state", she was denied mercy killing.

The nursing staff at the hospital that had been looking after her since she had lapsed into coma, vehemently opposed the petition. "We have to tend to her just like a small child at home. She only keeps aging like any of us, does not create any problems for us. We take turns looking after her and we love to care for her. How can anybody think of taking her life?"

This is what most people think when it’s a loved one. But over the years her colleagues retired, died, new ones who hadn’t even been round on that fateful day or through her petition got appointed, but they all took care of the legacy that was Aruna, as if she was their child. Or was each one fulfilling some of their internal vacuum?

How can one see their child suffer like this, with no medical hope, year after year, struggle for breath?  Was she even there, did she want any of this? Had she known she’ll be in this state forever, would she have wanted to be the burden-less child?  

The Supreme Court, however in a landmark judgment finally allowed passive euthanasia in India

Strange .

Active euthanasia: When medical professionals, or another person, deliberately do something that causes the patient to die

Passive euthanasia: When the patient dies because medical professionals either don't do something necessary to keep the patient alive or when they stop doing something that is keeping patient alive.

To me the intent is clear in both the cases, only the second one involves more suffering, ensures that whatever it is that is killing you will suck the life out, while you struggle for every last breathe.

Aruna was young, a junior nurse, engaged to a resident doctor, she may or may not have had a fulfilling life ahead of her. 

But instead she was in a vegetative state for 42 years after being brutally raped, gums rotting ,nails digging into the inside of her palm and died after every single nurse who cared for her over those years couldn’t save her from the final call of pneumonia.

If she couldn’t get a life of dignity I wish in death we’d granted her so.

We really need to wake up to Euthanasia as a nation.

Sure, dividing the dubious from the real cases will be a task, lets put our energy down to creating guidelines on what is genuine rather than all our energy into just saying no.