Right to die, 70-year woman pleads to the High Court

Euthanasia / mercy killing / physician assisted suicide is, bringing about of the gentle death of a patient in the case of a painful, chronic and incurable disease. Euthanasia is illegal and against the law in India. It is considered as an act of cowardice in the country.

For the first time the Karnataka High Court has been approached by a petition, seeking mercy killing. The Petitioner H.B. Karibasamma is a 70 year old woman seeking the Court’s permission for euthanasia.

The DNA has reported Justice Ajit K. Gunjal, while hearing the petition has asked the Government to provide the records (medical records of Karibasamma) in a week’s time. Justice Gunjal has also issued notices to the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, Ministry of Law and Justice, and the Chief Secretary of Karnataka (regarding Karibasamma’s plea for mercy killing).

Pramila Nesargi, Senior Counsel and former Chairperson of the State Women’s Commission representing Karibasamma, said, “The petitioner could be granted the right to die with dignity as she did not want to be a burden on the society.”

Karibasamma is suffering from “slip-disc”, an ailment defined by Mayo Clinic as “an excruciating back pain that shoots down your leg, everyday activities become difficult or even intolerable. This can irritate a nerve and result in pain, numbness or weakness in the back as well as the leg or arm.” In addition to the slip-disc she is also diabetic and has been suffering since the past 10-12 years.

Karibasamma is a retired school teacher, has no family or children and lives in an old-age home. She receives a monthly pension of Rs. 8,968 ($200), most of which goes on to cover her medical expenses. She suffers from mental as well as physical agony as there is no one to look after her. Karibasamma said, “I do not have any children. I am the second wife of my husband. I am tired of my life. I am suffering from intense pain. I do not want to trouble my relatives anymore. I stay in the old age home for treatment since there is no treatment at our village. I am fighting this case as an underprivileged person.”

This 70 year old woman wants to die in a dignified manner. Karibasamma stated that she is seeking the Governments permission to end her life through euthanasia or a physician assisted death. She does not want her case to be labelled as a cowardly act of suicide, but as an honourable end to a person who valiantly fought life.

The Law Commission in 2008 (according to a report by the Times of India) had recommended to the Government of India to allow terminally ill to end their lives to relieve them of long suffering. The Commission’s Chairman Dr. Justice A.R. Lakshmanan in the commission’s report said, “If a person is unable to take normal care of his body or has lost all the senses and if his real desire is to quit the world, he cannot be compelled to continue with torture and painful life. In such cases, it will indeed be cruel not to permit him to die.”

The Law Commission Report stated, “a terminally ill man or man in a persistent vegetative state can be permitted to terminate it by premature extinction of life.” The Report proposed another radical reform, to decriminalize an attempt to suicide. The panel recommended the deletion of Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code, which punishes a person who survives an attempt to end life with one year imprisonment and a fine.

In the same year the Kerala Law Reforms Commission headed by Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer (former Judge, Supreme Court of India) suggested, euthanasia should be legalised in the State and made this recommendation in the form of a Draft Bill. The panel recommended “making mercy killing legal is like ‘right to life’; one also has the right to live a life free of escalating pain and suffering.”

Euthanasia could be legalized in India, but the laws would have to be very stringent. Every case will have to be carefully decided on its own merits and circumstances along with taking into consideration the wish of the patient, the opinion of the relatives and most importantly that of the doctors. Whether Indian society is mature enough to face this, is yet to be seen. Euthanasia is a matter of life and death… life in the hands of justice and ultimately, death in the hands of justice.

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