Retired KEM nurse who used to take care of the rape victim bedridden for 38 years says she is ready to walk every day to KEM hospital just to "keep her alive"
Retired KEM nurse who used to take care of the rape victim bedridden for 38 years says she is ready to walk every day to KEM hospital just to "keep her alive"
Many may find mercy killing merciful for Aruna Shanbaug (62), who has been lying at KEM hospital for 38 years now, after a brutal sexual assault.
But Tidi Makwana (55), a former nurse at the hospital, who combed Aruna's hair, cut her nails and bathed her, feels that a lethal injection is simply not the answer.
Instead, a retired Makwana, fondly called Champa Mausi, has offered to come to the hospital daily just to take care of her.
She insists she does not need a salary or travelling expenses to do so. "I will walk to the hospital, but I will keep her alive." Makwana lives in Mahalaxmi Road, while the hospital is in Parel.
Makwana who had joined the hospital in 1974, had met Aruna just once when the latteru00a0 was a nurse at the hospital. After that brief encounter with Aruna, Makwana had not imagined that Aruna could be a victim of such a heinous crime.
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"I read about the rape in the papers and my mother didn't allow me to go to the hospital, saying that it's not safe to work at KEM. But I convinced her and went to the hospital to work," said Makwana.
Aruna was sodomised by a wardboy, who tied her head with a dog chain which cut off her oxygen supply, rendering her immobile.
"In the last 22 years, I have never missed a day to come and take care of Aruna. I used to cut her nails and clean her room.
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I love her like I did my daughter," said Makwana who lost her daughter, Hansa, eight years ago. "I don't want to lose Aruna.
I don't understand who are we to send her to her death. Let it come naturally," she said, eyes misting over.
KEM agrees
In fact, hospital authorities, doctors and nurses do not want to put Aruna to sleep.
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Dr Sanjay Oak, KEM's dean, said, "I am grateful to the entire staff for taking care of Aruna all these years. We will continue to do so, we cannot put her to sleep, she is family to us.
We will consider Tidi's request if the nursing staff is okay with it."
Echoing the view, Makwana said, "No one has ever refused working for her. The then-matron, Durga Mehta, used to bring Aruna sweets on Diwali and mango juice in summers. Would anyone do so much if they didn't care?"
Makwana was once felicitated for keeping Aruna company and caring for her, but instead of a certificate, she asked for a homely bed for Aruna.
"What will I do with a certificate; I wanted my Aruna to get good sleep."
In fact Makwana, who retired five months ago, was in the hospital for some formalities when she heard that a team of doctors had been send by the court to ascertain her medical condition.
"I immediately went to my department and spoke to my colleagues. They told me that they want to kill her by an injection .I don't know why they want to do it."
A three-member committee has already visited Aruna and conducted a battery of tests, following Supreme Court's directive that has asked for a medical report on Aruna's condition.
A staff nurse who has nursed Aruna for two long years, said, "Sit with her and you will know she is very much alive to live with dignity. She eats food, attentively listens to music, and loves fish.
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The important thing is that we love her enough to keep her alive and well."
When MiD DAY asked the nurses about Aruna's relatives, they said, "We are her relatives, actually more than that."
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