For Mumbai vicar, Aruna teaches us the value of every life
Mumbai (AsiaNews) – For more than 40 years, Aruna Shanbaug was a symbol "of courage and determination in life, not euthanasia. We may wonder about the quality of her life, since she could do almost nothing for herself, but every life has value,” said Mgr Agnelo Gracias, vicar general of the archdiocese of Mumbai.
Aruna Shanbaug, the nurse who remained in a vegetative state for 42 years following a sexual assault, was buried yesterday in Mumbai.
The nursing staff at King Edward Memorial Hospital (KEMH), where she worked at the time of her attack and where she had been hospitalised since 1973, organised the cremation ceremony.
When two great-grandnephews came to claim the body for the funeral, a discussion ensued with the nursing staff who looked after her for all these years, with the two sides eventually deciding to perform the rituals together. "We've always taken care of her,” a nurse said, “and we want to do it until the end."
From the day of the attack, her family did not take care of her. Her last living sister, Shyamala never went to see her after the rape. "We had no means to support her or pay for her hospital expenses. Like me, my sister Shanta, who stayed in Mumbai, also abandoned Aruna due to financial constraints," she told The Times of India.
Vidya, wife of Vinayak, one of Aruna’s great-grandnephews, said that she had heard about Aruna when she got married in 1992 but the issue was never discussed. "I know about Aruna from what I have read. In the house, we never discuss her. In fact, we are not in touch with any of our relatives," she said.
Vidya said they has keenly watched the debate on euthanasia and were against it themselves. "We wanted her to have a natural death and we are happy that she has been relieved of her pain."
According to Mgr Gracias, "the real heroines of the story are the nurses at the KEM Hospital, who under the guidance of the doctors took care of her with tenderness for all these years.”
“Every new group of nurses was brought to her room and Aruna was presented as their 'sister'. Such was the care they had for her that, in all these years, although bedridden, she never developed a single bedsore".
In 2011, Mgr Agnelo Gracias presented a pro-life award to the KEMH nursing staff because of the dedication with which they dealt with Aruna Shanbaug over the years.
In October 2014, the Church of Mumbai organised a seminar on the theme ‘Protect, preserve and promote the gift of human life - emerging challenges," where the prelate spoke about euthanasia.
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31/03/2005
