Although euthanasia had been discussed earlier, the biggest national debate in India began with the case of Aruna Shanbaug.
Aruna Shanbaug was a nurse working at King Edward Memorial Hospital in Mumbai. In 1973, when she was only 25 years old, she was brutally attacked by a hospital sweeper. According to reports, the attacker sexually assaulted her and strangled her using a dog chain.
The assault caused severe brain damage. As a result, Shanbaug slipped into a coma-like condition.
She remained in this state for an astonishing 42 years. During this time, nurses and staff at the hospital took care of her day and night. Her parents had passed away, and many relatives were not involved in her care.
In 2015, she passed away after spending more than four decades in that condition.
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While she was still alive, writer and journalist Pinki Virani, who was also close to her, filed a petition in the Supreme Court. She asked the court to stop force-feeding Shanbaug through a tube. The request was made in the belief that it would allow her suffering to end.
Virani also requested that Shanbaug be granted euthanasia.
Supreme Court’s 2011 ruling on Aruna Shanbaug
In 2011, the Supreme Court gave an important judgement in the Aruna Shanbaug case. The court rejected Pinki Virani’s request to allow euthanasia in her specific case.
However, the court also made a significant observation. It said that passive euthanasia could be allowed in certain rare situations under strict conditions.
The court explained that such a request should ideally come from the hospital or the caregivers responsible for the patient’s daily care.
In Shanbaug’s case, the hospital staff who cared for her for decades did not support stopping treatment. Because of this, the court decided not to allow euthanasia for her.
Still, the judgement was historic because it opened the door for passive euthanasia in India for the first time. It also triggered a nationwide debate on whether patients should have the right to die with dignity when recovery is impossible.