Active euthanasia is generally referred to a state where a patient is given a lethal injection or through any other method allowed to die in presence of doctors, while passive euthanasia involves withdrawing the life support system from a patient.
In a much-awaited verdict, the Supreme Court on 08/03/11 ruled that 'passive euthanasia' can be permissible in exceptional circumstances but dismissed a plea for mercy killing on behalf of a 60-year-old nurse, living in a vegetative state for the last 37 years in a Mumbai hospital after a brutal sexual assault.
The plea for Aruna's mercy killing had been made by writer Pinky Virani who had told the court in her petition that the nurse slipped into coma after she was attacked by a sweeper who wrapped a dog chain around her neck and yanked the victim with it.
According to the petition, he had tried to rape the victim but finding that she was menstruating, indulged in anal sex. To immobilise her during this act, he twisted the chain around her neck and fled the scene after the committing the heinous offence, it had said.
Virani had said that due to strangulation by the chain, the supply of oxygen to the brain stopped and the cortex got damaged. She also had brain stem contusion injury associated with cervical cord injury.
According to the petitioner, in the last 37 years after the incident, Aruna has become 'featherweight' and her bones are brittle. She is prone to bed sores.
Aruna's wrists are twisted inward, teeth decayed and she can only be given mashed food on which she survives, Virani had said, adding that she is in a persistent vegetative state, her brain is virtually dead and she is oblivious to the outside world.
She can neither see nor hear anything nor can she express herself or communicate in any manner, whatsoever, she had said in her plea for mercy killing.
IS INDIA MATURE ENOUGH TO HANDLE 'ACTIVE EUTHANASIA'?
In an interview with 'MiD DAY' Dr Devi Shetty, a noted cardiologist and chairman of Narayana Hrudaylaya -- a health care institute -- shared his thoughts on the SC ruling in the Shanbaug case and what lies in store for India if mercy killing is legalised.
"Personally I am dead against it. I am happy with the judgment in the Shanbaug case, but the moment you legalise it, you are opening a 'Pandora's Box'. It will be misused as there is no mechanism to control or monitor the process of euthanasia," said Dr Shetty.
Dr Shetty explained that passive euthanasia is when one is brain dead and the life support system is removed and feeding of the patient is stopped. The body then dehydrates and the patient dies. While active euthanasia is when an injection is administered to stop the heart.
However, Dr Shetty said that under no circumstances should euthanasia should legalised. "India is not mature enough to handle it. It will take another 20 to 30 years for us to be ready," said Dr Shetty. "It won't go through. Supreme Court has made a recommendation but is not a law yet. A committee will be formed in coordination with the medical council and health ministry."
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