LUCKNOW: A deep, deafening silence has enveloped flat no. A-1314 at Raj Empire Society in Ghaziabad since Saturday, when Harish Rana was shifted to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, to undergo the process of passive euthanasia permitted to him by the Supreme Court of India on March 11 this year.
The apex court accorded the permission taking a humanitarian view of the petition filed by Harish Rana’s parents seeking euthanasia for their son who has been comatose for the last 13 years.
As per sources close to the family, under the supervision of a team of doctors, Harish has been taken off oxygen support and has been shifted to a general bed in the palliative care ward. Moreover, food and water have also been withheld for the past three days. Previously, he was being fed through a tube which has now been capped.
Doctors at AIIMS are monitoring his condition continuously and for now he is stated to be stable. Meanwhile, his parents remain in an adjacent ward praying for a peaceful and painless passage for their son from this world.
In compliance with the Supreme Court order, the board of five doctors, headed by Dr Seema Mishra, HoD, anaesthesia and palliative medicine department, has now been expanded to 10 for the supervision of the process of euthanasia as per medical protocol.
Various tests are also being conducted to check the condition of organs in Harish’s body so that a final decision on organ donation can be taken. The hospital administration is believed to have suggested counselling for the family for psychological support during these traumatic times.
According to medical experts, in such cases of passive euthanasia, the actual time taken for the process to be completed cannot be predicted. Harish is resting in the palliative care ward where, as per doctors, death is not expedited, but the process involves taking the patient towards a natural death by reducing pain and suffering. The focus remains on providing relief, so that the patient can meet a smooth end.
Medical experts say that each step is taken cautiously and periodic reports on the patient’s condition are submitted to the court.
Significantly, the family, in its petition seeking euthanasia for Harish, had stated in the apex court that they had sold their entire property for their son’s treatment. The financial burden had been increasing, and it had become unbearable for them to watch Harish suffer for so long.
On the quiet morning of March 14, as the family prepared to shift Harish to AIIMS Delhi, Brahmakumari sister Lovely visited them at their residence offering spiritual support and performed a farewell ritual by placing a sandal tilak on Harish’s forehead.
“You are like a bird trapped in a cage of sorrow and pain. The time has come for you to fly free,” said sister Lovely, with those words, bade an emotional farewell to Harish Rana, asking him to forgive everyone and seek forgiveness from everyone while departing. Father Ashok Rana apologised to relatives, saying he was taking this step despite personal reluctance.
According to family sources, Harish’s father was initially opposed to the idea of euthanasia, believing it to be against nature.
However, Harish’s mother, Nirmala, had a different perspective. She had expressed her wish for euthanasia nearly four years ago, stating that she could no longer bear to see her son’s suffering and lying in a vegetative state for almost a decade. She reportedly sought Brahmakumari sister Lovely’s help in convincing her husband.
Over time, with counselling and emotional support, the father and other family members accepted the decision to move court for seeking euthanasia for Harish, sources added. The family then resorted to legal recourse, taking the matter from the High Court to the Supreme Court.
Family sources said that despite being in a coma, Harish’s eyes often remained open, and he occasionally coughed or showed minor responses. However, there was no movement in the rest of his body. Over the years, his physical condition deteriorated severely. His body became extremely frail, with bones visibly protruding. His parents and younger brother Ashish cared for him tirelessly.
The Rana family moved to Ghaziabad about six years ago after previously living in Delhi for over a decade.
Harish, originally from Delhi, was pursuing a B.Tech at Panjab University in Chandigarh. In 2013, during his final semester, he fell from the fourth floor of his hostel. The accident left him paralysed and in a coma. Doctors diagnosed him with quadriplegia, a condition in which survival often depends on ventilatory and assisted feeding support. Recovery chances in such cases are extremely limited.
Over time, prolonged immobility also led to severe bedsores, further worsening his condition and making the family’s emotional and physical burden increasingly difficult to bear.