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| Supreme Court to decide on plea |
| Supreme Court to decide on plea for her death
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| INDIA
, 2-March-2011
1:42:25 AM |
| Should Aruna Shanbaug be allowed to die? The Supreme Court will today decide on the fate of the nurse who has been lying in a vegetative state for the last 37 years at a government hospital after being sexually assaulted by a sweeper there.
The apex court will hear the plea of activist Pinki Virani that feeding of the nurse should be stopped immediately. Virani, who compiled Aruna's biography, contends that the victim can't see or speak properly and thus keeping her alive violates her right to live with dignity.
''We have asked the court to give directions to stop her nutrition. Stop feeding her...I mean she is virtually dead. She cannot see, she cannot hear. The court has appointed a team of doctors to examine her. They say she meets most of the criteria of being in persistent vegetative state", said Shubhangi Tuli, Virani's lawyer.
Virani's contention has been backed by a doctor on the panel who told NDTV that Aruna's condition won't improve
But, nurses at the King Edward Memorial (KEM) Hospital, where Aruna worked and met with the gruesome incident, still take care of her willingly. Unless that changes, experts contend that a decision on Aruna would not be fair as she herself would not be able to participate in the decision-making.
Justifying the point, Dr Pragna Pai, Former Dean, KEM Hospital said, "She is not on life support system. She is breathing on her own. Her heart is beating, her brain is not dead."
Aruna's tragedy dates back to November 27, 1973. She was at the basement, readying to go home in the evening after finishing her shift.
Lying in wait there with a dog chain was hospital sweeper Sohanlal Walmiki who Aruna had pulled up a few times for stealing food meant for hospital animals.
Walmiki choked Aruna with the chain and then sodomised her.
Aruna was found lying unconscious the next morning. The chain around her neck had cut off oxygen supply to her brain, damaging vital functions like sight, memory and normal movement.
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