The Supreme Court dismissed the euthanasia plea for Aruna Shanbaug. Her friend, author Pinki Virani had filed the plea.
The Supreme Court dismissed the euthanasia plea foru00a0Aruna Shanbaug. Her friend, author Pinki Virani had filed the plea.
The former nurse at Mumbai's KEM hospital has been in a vegetative state for 37 years after being attacked by a ward boy.
Walking through the corridors of the King Edward Memorial (KEM) hospital, one can't help but notice an eerie silence that penetrates and makes itself heard over the screams of patients in agony and the noise made by doctors and nurses as they go about their work.
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Ahead of the verdict on Shanbaug's euthanasia plea put forward by Virani, the hospital's ward number 4 saw a steady stream of nurses coming in to catch another glimpse of 'their Aruna'.
The nurses, each of whom have taken care of Shanbaug at some point or the other in the 38 years she has been there, were clear that they didn't want her to die. "Aruna loves sweets. When she could eat by herself, we would give her sweets and it was evident on her face that she liked them," said nurse Neha Kochrekar with a smile, which vanished when this reporter asked her about the verdict.
"I am not above the law, but I feel that nurses have been taking care of Aruna for years and when we do not ask for death for her, why should anyone else?" she asked. "She fondly listens to music, especially devotional songs, which are played continuously on a tape. She is very much aliveu00a0-- she screams when she is upset and laughs when she's happy. Why would anyone want to kill her? We don't want her to die," said Chayya Adhale, who was assigned work in ward number 4 more than 10 years ago.
Adhale is now in charge of some other ward in the hospital, but when this reporter visited ward number 4, Adhale was there. "I had come to see Aruna. I just felt like coming and seeing her today," she said. Soon, seven nurses gathered around Shanbaug's bed, recollecting their memories with her. "On Aruna's 50th birthday, we had a small celebration and cake-cutting for her. We don't even celebrate the birthdays of nurses, but we did it for Aruna because she is special," said Kochrekar.
When Tidi Makwana (55), a retired staffer at the hospital, who combed Aruna's hair, cut her nails and bathed her, heard that a euthanasia pleas is being heard, she said, "If no one wants to take care of her, I will come to the hospital walking everyday. I have lost one daughter and do not want to lose another one. I will not allow anyone to give Aruna a lethal injection."
Medical team's take
Recently, the Supreme Court-appointed medical team comprising city doctors J V Divatia, Roop Gurshani and Nilesh Shah declared Aruna to be in a vegetative state. "We examined Aruna completely and even performed a CT scan and EEG to draw a conclusion about her medical condition.
The fact is that she is in a vegetative state and everyone has accepted that. The question now is: who has the right to seek death on Aruna's behalf, the nursing staff and hospital officials of KEM or her friend, Pinki Virani?" said a doctor who is a part of the team. Though Aruna is currently being fed by RC tube, the doctors placed some sugar on her tongue, which she chewed and swallowed. "We were surprised to see Aruna eating sugar so fondly," added the doctor.
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