Sexual assault victim in India dies after 42 years in coma

[Calllaris]

'Aruna Shanbaug gifted law on passive euthanasia despite being denied right to life and death'

 

Link: http://edition.cnn.com/2015/05/18/asia/india-coma-victim-dies/index.html?sr=cnnifb

 

{Passive euthanasia was legalized in the country as a result of a petition relating to her case}.

 

A sexual assault victim in India who remained in a coma for 42 years has died, rekindling the debate on legalising euthanasia in the country.

 

Aruna Shanbaug, 67, died at 8.30am local time, Dr Avinash Supe, dean at the King Edward Memorial hospital in Mumbai, confirmed to CNN.

 

Shanbaug, who used to work as a staff nurse at the hospital, "was suffering from pneumonia for the past week and later suffered a cardiac arrest," Dr. Supe said.

 

"She was put on a ventilator during that time. She was being fed with a tube and had been in a vegetative state for the past 42 years," he said.

 

Supe referred to Shanbaug as a victim of sexual assault in 1973.

 

Pinki Virani, an author and journalist based in Mumbai, wrote a book entitled "Aruna's Story" in 2000, detailing Shanbaug's ordeal. In the book, Virani claimed Shanbaug was brutally sodomized and strangled with a dog chain by a sweeper at the hospital where she had worked.

 

On March 7, 2011, Virani submitted a petition to the supreme court of India for euthanasia for Shanbaug, a practice which is illegal in the country. But her petition was rejected by the court.

 

However, as a result of Shanbaug's case, the supreme court legalised passive euthanasia in the same year, subject to restrictions. The method is described in the court's report as "withholding or withdrawing medical treatment including dis continuance of life supporting systems."

 

"The greatest irony is that it was because of her (that) the euthanasia (judgment) was passed, but she never benefited from it", Virani told CNN.

 

"She is in peace, at last, and so am I," she said.

 

There has been an outpouring of grief on Twitter, as well as opinions voiced on euthanasia and praise given to the hospital.

 

'Aruna Shanbaug's life sentence of unbearable pain ends. Will we come out of coma? Kudos to KEM staff, but Active Euthanasia would be kinder!'— गीतिका (@ggiittiikkaa) May 18,2015

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A chief minister of a southern state in India also expressed sympathy.

'My deepest condolences on the sad. demise of Aruna Shanbaug.It was painful to see her suffering. I salute the humanity shown by KEM nurses.'— Devendra Fadnavis (@Dev_Fadnavis) May 18, 2015

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But for many, Shanbaug continues to be the face of an ongoing euthanasia debate in the country.

 

@IndiaToday Aruna Shanbaug is the moral face of India.— A J (@AJWALMINTON) May 15, 2015

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Where is Shanbaug's rapist?

 

Link: http://m.hindustanti...e1-1348616.aspx

 

An opportunity was all that 28-year-old Sohanlal Bhartha Valmiki needed to assault Aruna Shanbaug, a nurse with the King Edward Memorial Hospital in Mumbai.

 

Valmiki got that opportunity on November 27, 1973, when Shanbaug was walking through an isolated area of the government hospital in Parel area.

 

At an isolated corner in the hospital, Valmiki caught hold of Shanbaug and strangled her with a dog's chain in such a manner that it cut the oxygen supply to her brain, and then brutally raped the nurse.

 

Valmiki then robbed her and fled from the hospital premises.

 

The then Mumbai police commissioner MS Mugwe ordered a manhunt and Valmiki was nabbed from Pune.

 

An officer, under whom investigations were carried out, told HT that the brutality of the case ensured that police personnel worked overtime. “We wanted the strictest punishment for the assailant,” said the officer, who did not wish to be named.

 

But Valmiki was not charged for rape. He was charged with attempt to murder and was convicted for a period of seven years.

 

By the time the trial started, he had spent a year in prison, and when convicted for attempted murder, had to serve six more years.

 

Why Valmiki was not charged with rape remains a question that is yet to be answered.

 

http://www.quora.com...t-inhuman-crime

 

There is a question mark on whether Valmiki can now be charged with murder.

 

There is little information on the whereabouts of Valmiki and also whether he is dead or alive.

 

 

 

[Iris]

This is why I hate the Law. Jail, afterwards walk away free.

[Abystacy]

Absolute nonsense. No justice any where

[Calllaris]

Justice is a bit scarce everywhere.This situation can be improved when laws are proposed and passed in favour of justice, also when citizens understand their rights and are ready to insist on them.

 

But india's is worse off when it comes to violence against women. Its not even like anywhere in Africa.

 

Rape in India is very common due to various reasons, chief amongst which is low status of women. India has one of the lowest female-to-male population ratios in the world because of sex-selective abortion and female infanticide. Throughout their lives, women are seen as a burden and sons are visibly preferred above daughters.

 

Discrimination against women starts in the crib so it will be hard to end this at the police station.