Aruna, Face of Euthanasia Debate, in ICU
Published: 16th May 2015 05:59 AM | Last Updated: 16th May 2015 05:59 AM | A+A A-
MUMBAI:Aruna Shanbaug, who had become the face of the euthanasia debate in the country two years ago, has been put on the ventilator after developing pneumonia and breathing problems.
Doctors at the King Edward Memorial (KEM) Hospital here said her condition was critical but stable. “She has been on life-support system for the last three days. She is responding to the treatment,” a doctor treating her said.
The Supreme Court had in 2011 rejected a petition for allowing euthanasia to 68-year-old Shanbaug, who has remained in a vegetative state for the past 42 years.
A nurse with the KEM Hospital, Shanbaug was raped, strangled and sodomised by a ward boy in 1973. She responds to some food and music but is otherwise paralysed.
Shanbaug’s family members had virtually disowned her after the incident. The hospital staff has been looking after her ever since.