CHENNAI, India — India's Supreme Court ruled March 14 that an Indian citizen has the right to die with dignity. There are understandable riders to this landmark judgment that said thousands of people leading a vegetative life could have their artificial support systems withdrawn and thus end their lives of misery.
The legal ruling came after years of debate over the vast number of men and women bedridden like mere vegetables, draining their families of finances. The emotional turmoil of those around such patients is immense, and worse, nobody can tell with any definitive conclusion the kind of agony that the victim feels.
Take the case of Aruna Shanbaug, a nurse at a leading Mumbai hospital, who has not been able talk, move or eat on her own for the past 37 years, a condition she developed after a sweeper raped her and throttled her with a dog chain.