Euthanasia, although not unknown to us as Indians, triggered a heated debate in the country with the brutal incident of Aruna Shanbaug who was battered, sodomized and strangulated by the ward boy in Mumbai’s King George Memorial hospital. Moved by her comatose state, Pinki Virani – biographer of Aruna moved the courts to end Aruna’s unbearable agony, pressing for her right to die a dignified death. Besides pinki’s publication entitled “Aruna’s Story: The True Account of a Rape and its Aftermath”, Aruna’s ordeal came out in several other books and on screen popular TV series such as Crime Patrol, Sony TV haad a fiction resembling Aruna Shanbaug’s story; pinki’s book has been translated into Marathi as Arunachi Goshta by Meena Karnikar (published by Mehta Publishing House), Satta Kumar Desai wrote the Marathi play, Katha Arunachi in 1994-95 which was staged in 2002 under the direction of Vinay Apte, Gujrati fiction novel Jad Chetan was written by popular Gujarati author Harikishan Metha in 1985 based on Aruna’s case.
Euthanasia, be it in some form or the other; active, passive, voluntary, has been legalized by some countries over the global preceded by a long drawn debate. Netherlands was the first to legalize it and Belgium quickly followed suit: nevertheless, they came under heavy criticism. Some countries have been debating the issue for a very long time and still have not been able to arrive at a definite consensus.
However, gerontologically speaking, every human being has the right to pass his last years with best care and the least amount of pain and worries. Often, caught in a dilemma between ethics and inethics, the families to permit passive euthanasia as religious beliefs and fear of social opprobrium could pose an obstacle. On the other hand, some contend that it is imperative to encourage people into including ‘do not resuscitate’ request in their wills and that the courts must make ‘living wills’ legal, which would enable people to have a dignified death whenever they wish.
Contents –
1. Euthanasia: A Debatable Issue Yet
– Dr. (Ms.) Suhasini B. Arya
2. Legalization of Euthanasia in India
– Prof. Madhavi Nighoskar & Prof. Subhashini Naikar
3. Euthanasia: An Unending Battle from the human Rights Perspective
– Dr. Sharmila Ghuge
4. Euthanasia and Law: Compatible or Contradictory
– Dr. (Ms.) Vandana R. Dube
5. Euthanasia: A Legal Perspective
– Prof. Mahendra L. Pachdkar
6. Euthanasia: Mercy Killing or Mercy Living !!!!!
– Dr. Kothari Nikkhil Venilal
7. Aruna Shanbaug’s Story and Euthanasia in India
– Dr. Gosavi Sunil & Mrs. Mausumi Galvankar
8. Euthanasia: A Constitutional Perspective
– Mrs. Nimmi R. Menon
9. The Religious concept of Euthanasia with Special Reference to Jainism
– Dr. K.V. Shah
10. Lack of insurance – A Cause of Euthanasia
– Dr. Sanchita S. Roy
11. Comparative Study on Euthanasia in India and Japan: A Case study of Japan
– Dr. Navnita Megnani
