[Reader-list] Unconscious for last 36 yrs; victim seeks SC permission to die

[Shuddhabrata Sengupta]

Dear Aditya,

Thank you for forwarding this story. I personally support euthenasia  
and the right to die with dignity, and am saddened at the Supreme  
Court's decision not to let those close to Aruna Shanbaug extend to  
her the ultimate solidarity and succour of a peaceful, dignified,  
assisted end to her suffering.

best,

Shuddha


On 17-Dec-09, at 6:02 PM, A.K. Malik wrote:

> Hi Mr Kaul,
>               What a justice system in our country? The victim  
> woman gets 36 yrs to live as a veggi and the culprit who did all  
> this to her gets 7 yrs only for attempt to murder and lives happily  
> after the sentence.
> Regards,
>
> (A.K.MALIK)
>
>
> --- On Thu, 12/17/09, Aditya Raj Kaul <kauladityaraj at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> From: Aditya Raj Kaul <kauladityaraj at gmail.com>
>> Subject: [Reader-list] Unconscious for last 36 yrs; victim seeks  
>> SC permission to die
>> To: "sarai list" <reader-list at sarai.net>
>> Date: Thursday, December 17, 2009, 3:55 PM
>> Unconscious for last 36 yrs; victim
>> seeks SC permission to die*Press Trust
>> Of India*
>> New Delhi, December 17, 2009
>>
>> Should a woman who has been lying unconsious in a Mumbai
>> hospital for 36
>> years be allowed to die or be left in the current
>> vegetative state?
>>
>> That was the question put before the Supreme Court today
>> when it said that
>> “under the law of the country, we cannot allow a person
>> to die”.
>>
>> The remarks by a Bench comprising Chief Justice K G
>> Balakrishnan and
>> Justices A K Ganguly and B S Chauhan came when a direction
>> was sought that
>> the woman be not fed.
>>
>> The Bench sought a response from the Centre and Maharashtra
>> government on a
>> petition moved by 59-year-old Aruna Ramchandra Shanbaug who
>> has been lying
>> in a vegetative state for last 36 years in Mumbai’s KEM
>> hospital after being
>> sexually assaulted by a sweeper.
>>
>> The Bench, which was hesitant to entertain the petition,
>> agreed to issue the
>> notice after advocate Shekhar Nafde explained it is not the
>> case of
>> “euthanasia” and the plea on behalf of the hapless
>> woman was moved by her
>> next friend Pinki Virani.
>>
>> “This is no human right. Her life is worse than animal
>> existence,” the
>> advocate said referring to Shanbaug.
>>
>> He said Shanbaug, who had joined as a nurse in the KEM
>> hospital in 1966, was
>> sexually assaulted in 1973, rendered immobile and
>> unconscious and has been
>> lying on bed after the incident.
>>
>> The petition sought a direction for the state government
>> and Municipal
>> Corporation of Brihan Mumbai to carry out tests to
>> ascertain the medical
>> condition of the woman.
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>
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Shuddhabrata Sengupta
The Sarai Programme at CSDS
Raqs Media Collective
shuddha at sarai.net
www.sarai.net
www.raqsmediacollective.net