Mumbai Doctor: Aruna Shanbaug was a witness to life and dignity, to the very end
Mumbai (AsiaNews) - The story of Aruna Shanbaug, an Indian nurse who died yesterday in Mumbai after 42 years of coma, "reveals the Culture of Life, that continues to guide indian society", says Dr. Pascoal Carvalho, a Catholic physician and member of the Pontifical Academy for Life speaking to AsiaNews. Aruna, 67, passed away at the King Edward Memorial Hospital (Kem) from complications related to pneumonia. Her story, brought to the fore in the 1970s by journalist Pinki Virani, made her the "face" of the euthanasia debate in India.
"Today - the doctor explains to AsiaNews - Today, many proponents of Euthanasia, euphemistically term it as Dying with Dignity', by movements which promote the culture of death. Human life is sacred, from conception to natural death and Nothing and no one can in any way permit the killing of an innocent human being, whether a fetus or an embryo, an infant or an adult, an old person, or one suffering from an incurable disease, or a person who is dying".
"Life - he continues - is a gift from God, and death is inevitable. So it is necessary that we, without in any way hastening the moment of our departure, should be able to accept it with full responsibility and dignity".
In that sense, the nursed who in recent years have taken care of Aruna Shanbaug "are a model for healthcare professionals. They cared for her boundless tenderness and sincere charity, thereby promoting a society of true compassion and justice for all. "
Aruna Shanbaug was a 25 years old nurse at King Edward Memorial engaged to Sundeep Sardesai, a young doctor, when she was attacked by a hospital janitor. On November 27, 1973 Sohanlal Valmiki Bharta first raped her and then tried to strangle her with a dog chain. Eleven hours later Aruna was found still alive but the chain had stopped the flow of blood and oxygen to her brain, reducing her to a vegetative state. Her attacker is identified and prosecuted, but only on charges of attempted murder and rape: He was sentenced to six years in prison, and was released in 1980.
Aruna remained hospitalized and was treated at Kem. Her fiancée waited for four years for her to wake up from the coma, to marry her and begin a new life abroad. From the day of the attack until her death the doctors but also nurses of the hospital cared for her day and night, making sure she did not suffer from bedsores and other complications from her state.
In 1989 Pinki Virani became interested in her case and wrote an article about her story. The journalist returned to the story several times, making it emblematic in the national debate on euthanasia. In fact "mercy killing" was illegal at the time in India.
In 2009 Virani submitted a petition to the Supreme Court for permission to practice passive euthanasia - or the interruption of treatment for the terminally ill or those in a persistent vegetative state - of Aruna. According to the journalist, the nurse was forced to live "unbearable agony" that did not correspond to her wishes.
Following Virani ‘s appeal, in 2011 the Supreme Court legalized passive euthanasia, stating that parents, a spouse, a close relative or a "next of kin" may request - in the interest of the patient - to stop the treatments keeping them alive. The decision must be evaluated by a high court, responsible for the final go-ahead.
In the same judgment, however, the Supreme Court rejected the journalist’s appeal for Aruna, opposed by the nurses and hospital staff who over the years had taken care of her. The judges justified the verdict explaining that Virani "cannot be considered to have the same degree of attachment or bond with Aruna as the hospital staff of Kem, who have been taking care of her for years."
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