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Indian Nurse Dies After 42 Years in a Coma Following Rape Indian Nurse Dies After 42 Years in a Coma Following Rape
(about 5 hours later)
MUMBAI, India — An Indian nurse died on Monday more than four decades after she was strangled with a metal chain, sexually assaulted and left in a permanent vegetative state. Her case had set off a national debate on euthanasia, often called “mercy killing” in India, and helped lead to the legalization of life-support withdrawal.MUMBAI, India — An Indian nurse died on Monday more than four decades after she was strangled with a metal chain, sexually assaulted and left in a permanent vegetative state. Her case had set off a national debate on euthanasia, often called “mercy killing” in India, and helped lead to the legalization of life-support withdrawal.
The nurse, Aruna Shanbaug, 66, succumbed to pneumonia she had contracted last week, said Avinash Supe, the dean of King Edward Memorial Hospital in Mumbai, where Ms. Shanbaug worked before spending 38 of the past 42 years in a coma there. She had been kept alive with a feeding tube. The nurse, Aruna Shanbaug, 66, died of pneumonia after contracting it last week, said Avinash Supe, the dean of King Edward Memorial Hospital in Mumbai, where Ms. Shanbaug had worked before spending 38 of the last 42 years in a coma there. She had been kept alive with a feeding tube.
In 1973, Ms. Shanbaug was a newly engaged 25-year-old nurse. At the end of the workday on Nov. 27, she went down to the basement of the hospital, where there was a “dog lab” in which animal experiments took place. A young orderly at the lab had waited there for her. He strangled her with a dog chain, sodomized her and then fled. Ms. Shanbaug was a newly engaged 25-year-old nurse when, at the end of the workday on Nov. 27, 1973, she went down to the hospital basement, where there was a “dog lab” in which animal experiments took place. A young orderly at the lab, who had waited there for her, strangled her with a dog chain, sodomized her and then fled.
The orderly, Sohanlal Bharta Walmiki, was sentenced to seven years in prison for robbery and attempted murder. Rape was not included in the charges against him, because Indian law at the time did not include sodomy as a form of rape and because the hospital had withheld the nature of the assault during the investigation. The orderly, Sohanlal Bharta Walmiki, was sentenced to seven years in prison for robbery and attempted murder. Rape was not included in the charges against him because Indian law at the time did not include sodomy as a form of rape, and because the hospital had withheld the nature of the assault during the investigation.
Ms. Shanbaug’s immediate family initially took part in her care, but the nurses of King Edward Memorial Hospital rallied around the cause of keeping her alive, and eventually took over her care. One of them, Anuradha Parade, who joined the hospital the year Ms. Shanbaug was transferred there from another facility and is now secretary of the nurses’ welfare society at the hospital, said Monday that her colleagues had looked upon Ms. Shanbaug as a family member. New nurses would be taken to her bedside and told, “She’s one of us. We will take care of her until she dies.” Ms. Shanbaug’s immediate family took part in her care at first, but the nurses at the hospital rallied to the cause of keeping her alive and eventually took over her care. One of them, Anuradha Parade, who joined the hospital the year Ms. Shanbaug was transferred there from another facility and who is now secretary of the nurses’ welfare society at the hospital, said on Monday that her colleagues had looked on Ms. Shanbaug as a family member. New nurses would be taken to her bedside and told: “She’s one of us. We will take care of her until she dies.”
“We have a hundred patients in a very crowded ward, but still each and every one of us cared for her personally,” Ms. Parade said. “We are so glad that we could give Aruna a natural death.”“We have a hundred patients in a very crowded ward, but still each and every one of us cared for her personally,” Ms. Parade said. “We are so glad that we could give Aruna a natural death.”
Thirty-five years into Ms. Shanbaug’s coma, an author and journalist named Pinki Virani petitioned the Supreme Court of India on Ms. Shanbaug’s behalf, arguing that she was “virtually a dead person” and should be allowed to “die peacefully.” But the nurses at the hospital vehemently protested and said that Ms. Shanbaug responded to them with facial expressions. Thirty-five years into the coma, Pinki Virani, an author and journalist, petitioned the Supreme Court of India on Ms. Shanbaug’s behalf, arguing that she was “virtually a dead person” and should be allowed to “die peacefully.” But the nurses protested, saying that Ms. Shanbaug had responded to them with facial expressions. The court suit was eventually rejected.
Dr. Roop Gursahani, a neurologist who examined Ms. Shanbaug in 2011 as part of the case, which was eventually rejected, said she had been taken care of so thoroughly that she had not had a bedsore in almost four decades. “She breathed on her own, responded slightly to light, and could swallow and digest soft food,” Dr. Gursahani said. “As far as I know, she is the longest-living survivor of a persistent vegetative state.” Dr. Roop Gursahani, a neurologist who examined Ms. Shanbaug in 2011 as part of the case, said she had been taken care of so thoroughly that she had not had a bedsore in almost 40 years.
“She breathed on her own, responded slightly to light, and could swallow and digest soft food,” Dr. Gursahani said. “As far as I know, she is the longest-living survivor of a persistent vegetative state.”