Kolkata: Cancer-afflicted Jain woman adopts Santhara, starts fasting till death
This is known as Santhara or Sallekhana or Samadhi-marana or Sanyasana-marana according to Jain religion.
This Jain practice of facing death voluntarily, by fasting unto death, at the end of one's life has been much debated at large in recent times.
According to Kolkata-based TV news channel ABP Ananda, resident of south Kolkata's Ballygunge area- Sohini Devi Dugar- has begun fasting since Sept 20.
She was detected with lung cancer last year and was released from a hospital on Sept 20, reports said.
Her family members have supported the decision of the 83-year-old, according to media reports.
"As she can not talk nowadays, she expressed her last wish in writing and we are supporting her decision to die in a spiritual path," Madhu Dugar, daughter-in-law of Sohini Devi told ABP Ananda.
"It's a challenge to death that I'm ready, you come to me and Santhara is the best process," Madhu Dugar said.
Earlier, on Aug 10, 2015, the Rajasthan High Court banned the Jain ritual Santhara, comparing it to an act of suicide, and made it a penal offence under IPC Section 309 (Attempt to Suicide).
In September last year, a division bench of the Supreme Court, led by the then Chief Justice H. L. Dattu, restored the Jain practice, by putting a stay on the order of the Rajasthan High Court.
(Reporting by Deepayan Sinha)
Image courtesy: ABP Ananda
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