Aruna Shanbaug's case: What really got missed out

For the last couple of weeks, Pinki Virani's euthanasia plea for Aruna Shanbaug managed to catch media's attention. The judges did the right thing. They elicited medical opinion about Aruna and then passed the judgment that Aruna should not be forcibly put to sleep. I completely agree with the court's argument that no one has the right to take Aruna's life. In fact, our system has failed to protect her and that is why she is in that state. Hence, we (read government) need to ensure that she does not suffer from inadequate medical attention, whatever be the cost. Since the nurses at KEM are taking good care of her since 38 years, let the same arrangement continue as long as she lives.

The judges who passed the judgment in Aruna's case, ignored one important aspect in the Indian laws which is crying for attention. That is about the inadequate quantum of punishment in such cases. This case had provided the right opportunity to bring it into focus and have the government change the laws accordingly. Without very hard punishment, the Sohan Lals who ruined Aruna's life would continue their acts without much deterrance.

Let us take Aruna's case itself. Sohan Lal, the sweeper, managed to ruin Aruna's life forever by his heinous act. If this incident had not happened Aruna's life would have been a great. But, for ruining her life forever, what punishment did he get? Just seven years in jail. In fact it was stupid for the judges to allow 2 7-year terms to run in parallel, in his case. In fact, our laws should discontinue this practice which is unfair to the victim. For the crime that Sohan Lal committed, the magnitude of punishment must have ruined his life. That is when I would say Aruna got justice. The judges did not focus on this aspect of the case at all.

In India, every day, there are so many cases of rape, acid throwing and so many other heinous crimes committed, but the perpetrators of crime get away with very short life terms for ruining someone's life. If you ask me, the cases of rape do much more damage to the victim than a murder. Thus, the laws should get changed accordingly. I would have been thankful to Pinky Virani if she had brought this aspect out in her case instead of assisted suicide. That would have changed the system for good. The court did not have to allow passive euthanasia in any case. It was already being practiced in different forms by the medical fraternity.

In summary, the Indian penal code needs a lot of urgent amendments to make it more effective. This includes de-criminalizing suicide attempts, but unless it addresses the root cause which is the quantum of punishment in various heinous crimes, the suffering of the people would continue unabated which Sohan Lals continue with their crimes.