Mumbai, May 18
 Nurse Aruna Ramchandra Shanbaug, who lay in coma for 42 years, the longest in world history, died here on Monday. Her death triggered an outpouring of grief through the day and at her funeral in the evening.

The last rites were performed at Bhoiwada Crematorium in south Mumbai here this evening, officials said.

Shanbaug had been in a vegetative state since she was brutally raped anally by a contract sweep in the KEM Hospital on the night of Nov. 27, 1973.

Shanbaug, aged 67, was deserted by most of her relatives during her lifetime but was looked after with unwavering dedication by the nurses of Asia's largest public healthcare facility, the BMC-run hospital's Ward No. 4A.

Since nearly a week, Shanbaug had suffered from pneuomonia-related ailments and had difficulty in breathing following which was put on a ventilator and was responding to the treatment.

She breathed her last around 8.30 a.m., plunging the entire hospital into a pall of gloom, especially the nursing staff who idolized her, hospital dean Avinash Supe.

Then aged 25, Shanbaug was brutally raped by contract sweeper boy Sohanlal B. Walmiki in the same hospital when she was changing prior to proceeding on long leave for her impending marriage with a young doctor in the hospital, Sandeep Sardesai.

While indulging in the gruesome act, the assailant choked her with a dog leash chain which cut off oxygen supply to her brain. This resulted in severe injuries to the brain stem and cervical chord injury and she lapsed into a permanent vegetative state - till her death on Monday.

The next morning, Shanbaug was found bleeding and in a delicate state, around 10 hours after the attack, by a conservancy staffer and rushed to the hospital for treatment.

Later, the police registered a case of robbery and attempt to murder as the hospital authorities allegedly suppressed the anal rape perpetrated on her to avoid her social ostracism and the fact that she was planning to get married soon.

Walmiki was arrested and convicted to serve two concurrent seven years terms. He was later set free and is believed to be settled in Delhi since.

"She was a bright student, always of a very helpful nature… going out of the way to help her co-students. The incident happened just when she was planning to settle down in life, both personal and professional. The perpetrator got away with minor punishment but suffered all her life," her former teacher at the KEM Nursing College, Anant Gaitonde, told IANS in a choked voice.

In Jan. 2011, the Supreme Court took up hearing a euthanasia petition filed on Shanbaug's behalf by celebrity author and journalist Pinki Virani in December 2010.

Though the apex court turned down Virani's petition in March 2011, in a landmark order, it permitted 'passive euthanisia' in India.

The Supreme Court also specified guidelines for passive euthanasia, including withdrawal of treatment or food that was allowing a patient to survive.

Virani, who authored the best-seller biography, "Aruna's Story", said though Shanbaug was comatose for over four decades, she gifted the country with the historic right of passive euthanasia.

On Monday evening, Shanbaug's flower-bedecked body was taken from the hospital - her solitary home since the past over four decades - in an ambulance to the crematorium.

Thousands of grieving nurses, including many who had personally cared for her all these years, raised cries of 'Aruna Amar Rahe' and 'Aruna Ki Jai Ho', as they walked to the funeral venue.

Prior to the funeral, her body was kept for public viewing as thousands of nurses, political leaders, commoners and others paid homage to her.

Earlier in the afternoon, a minor controversy erupted over the funeral, with two relatives of Shanbaug and the hospital nurses staking claim to perform the last rites.

However, the matter was settled amicably with the hospital administration taking over the responsibility for the funeral and the last rites got underway in the presence of the nurses as well as Shanbaug's relatives.

(Quaid Najmi can be contacted at [email protected])


Mumbai, May 18
A controversy has erupted over performing the last rites of nurse Aruna Shanbaug, the world's oldest comatose patient who died on Monday after lying in coma for around 42 years, with two of her relatives staking claim to do so.

Shanbaug had been in a vegetative state ever since she was raped by a contract sweeper in the KEM hospital on the night of November 27, 1973.

The last rites shall be performed around 4 p.m. on Monday.

A controversy erupted over the funeral, with two relatives of Shanbaug staking claim to perform the last rites.

They claimed before mediapersons that all attempts to meet Shanbaug were stone-walled by the hospital authorities.

However, nurses at the KEM Hospital demanded that since they had tended to Shanbaug for over four decades, they should be allowed to perform the last rites.

The hospital, civic and police authorities have reportedly evolved a compromise formula by which the nurses and the two relatives shall jointly perform the funeral.

Presently, the hospital has kept her body for public viewing as thousands of people, including nurses, commoners, politicians and others paid homage to Shanbaug.

She was aged in her early 60s, deserted by most of her relatives during her lifetime but was looked after with dedication by nurses of Asia's largest public healthcare facility, the BMC-run KEM Hospital where she lay in Ward No. 4A.

World's oldest comatose patient Aruna Shanbaug is dead

The world's oldest comatose patient, nurse Aruna Shanbaug who had been in a vegetative state ever since she was raped and choked with a dog leash, died in Mumbai's KEM Hospital on Monday morning after remaining in coma for almost 42 years, Dean Avinash Supe said.

She was in her early 60s and was deserted by most of her relatives during her lifetime. She was looked after with dedication by nurses of the hospital, where she lay in Ward No.4A.

Since nearly a week, Shanbaug suffered from pneumonia and related ailments. As she found it difficult to breathe, she was put on a ventilator and was responding to the treatment.

Hailing from Haldipur, North Kanara in Karnataka, she died around 8.30 a.m., plunging the entire hospital into a pall of gloom, especially the nursing staff who idolized her.

Supe said police permission and other formalities are being completed before finalizing Shanbaug's last rites later on Monday.

"I appeal to all people to help us trace out any relatives or people close to Shanbaug. They can get in touch with the hospital immediately. This can avoid any issues later, though we have been her official care-givers," Supe told IANS.

A junior nurse, Shanbaug was brutally raped by contract sweeper Sohanlal B. Walmiki in the same hospital on the night of November 27, 1973 when she was changing.

While indulging in the act, he had choked her with a dog leash that snapped oxygen supply to her brain, resulting in severe injuries to the brain stem and cervical chord that left her in a vegetative state since then.

Aged barely 20, Aruna was planning to get married to a doctor working in the same hospital.

Later, the police registered a case of robbery and attempt to murder as the hospital authorities allegedly suppressed the anal rape perpetrated on her to avoid social ostracism of the victim and the fact that she was planning to get married soon.

Walmiki was subsequently arrested and convicted two serve two concurrent seven years' sentences. He was later set free and is believed to be settled in Delhi since.

Shanbaug's former teacher, Anant Gaitonde, remembers her as "a very intelligent nursing student" in the early 1970s at the KEM Nursing College.

"She was a bright student, always of a very helpful nature; going out of the way to help her co-students. The incident happened just when she was planning to settle down in life, both personal and professional. The crime perpetrator got away with a minor punishment, but she suffered all her life," Gaitonde told IANS in a choked voice.

In January 2011, the Supreme Court took up a euthanasia petition filed on Shanbaug's behalf by celebrity author and journalist Pinki Virani in December 2010.

Though the apex court turned down Virani's petition in March 2011, in a landmark it permitted 'passive euthanisia' in India.

The Supreme Court also specified guidelines for passive euthanasia, including withdrawal of treatment or food that would allow the patient to survive.