FASTING UNTO DEATH
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Santhara or suicide? HC to hear
Published on Thu, Oct 05, 2006 at 08:10, Updated on Thu, Oct 05, 2006 at 14:26 in India section
Tags: Jain, Mercy Killing Ritual , Jaipur
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Jaipur: Seventy-four-year-old Amar Chand Kasawan has attained divine status according to the Jain community. After suffering from gangrene and pneumonia for a long time, he took up Santhara, a religious ritual of fasting unto death.
Kasawan died on the fifth day of his fast but instead of mourning, his family is ready to glorify his death.
“This is a religious fast and my father-in-law really wanted to take it up,” Kasawan’s daughter-in-law, Kalpana said.
This is not a stray incident in the community. Before Kasawan, 61-year-old Vimala Devi died last week after fasting for 14 days.
A petition has been filed in the Rajasthan High Court, equating the practice of Santhara with the likes of suicide, euthanasia and Sati.
But like Vimala Devi's family, Kasawan’s family, too, justifies it by claiming that it was a wish, which he had expressed in his diary 15 years ago.
“When the doctor gave up on him he told us ‘now you take me home and fulfill my last wish’,” Kasawan’s son, Vimal said.
Three other cases of Santhara have been reported from Rajasthan, all of them being women over 80 years old.
The Shwetambar sect of the Jain community considers this practice to be the ultimate spiritual achievement.
However, the Rajasthan High Court on Thursday will hear a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging the practice of Santhara.
In the last one week five cases of Santhara have been reported in Rajasthan, of which two people have died since the filing of the PIL.
(With inputs from Jemima Rohekar)
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