How Aruna Shanbaug's memories echoed in the corridors of Supreme Court

Kolkata rape-murder case: Aruna Shanbaug's ordeals resonated with growing concerns of women healthcare professionals following the murder of the junior doctor in Kolkata's RG Kar Hospital

The Supreme Court of India, while hearing a suo motu petition concerning the brutal rape and murder of a young trainee doctor at R G Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, revived the memories of Aruna Shanbaug, a nurse who was sexually assaulted in 1973. The Chief Justice of India, DY Chandrachud, emphasised the enduring issues of gender violence and the safety of women in the healthcare sector during the proceedings.

Chief Justice Chandrachud, in his remarks, spoke about the vulnerability of women health professionals to violence, drawing a parallel to the tragic case of Aruna Shanbaug, a junior nurse from Karnataka. On November 27, 1973, Shanbaug was assaulted by Sohanlal Bhartha Walmiki, a janitor at Mumbai’s King Edward Memorial Hospital. The assault left her in a vegetative state for 42 years until she died in 2015. “Gender violence, as exemplified by the Aruna Shanbaug case, starkly illustrates the systemic lack of safety for women,” said the Chief Justice.

 

The tragedy with Aruna Shanbaug
 

Aruna Shanbaug, an aspiring nurse from the Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka, faced a brutal attack while finishing her shift at King Edward Memorial Hospital. 

Walmiki reportedly strangled her with a dog chain and raped her in the hospital’s basement. The next morning, she was discovered unconscious by a cleaner. The attack left her with severe spinal injuries and cut off oxygen to her brain, rendering her in a vegetative state for the rest of her life. She was only 24 years old at the time.

Walmiki was convicted of attempted murder and theft but was not tried for rape due to the narrow legal definition of the crime at the time. After serving a seven-year sentence, Walmiki disappeared from the public eye.

For the next 42 years, Shanbaug remained confined to a hospital bed at the very institution where she once worked, cared for by the hospital’s nursing staff. She passed away at the age of 66 in May 2015 due to pneumonia.

Aruna Shanbaug vs Union of India
 

The Aruna Shanbaug case also ignited a nationwide debate on mercy killing or euthanasia. In 2009, journalist and human rights activist Pinki Virani filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking passive euthanasia for Shanbaug, citing her decades of suffering with no hope of recovery. 

Virani, who chronicled Shanbaug’s story in her book ‘Aruna’s Story: The True Account of a Rape and Its Aftermath’, argued that it was time to end the nurse’s prolonged agony. However, the nursing staff at King Edward Memorial Hospital opposed the petition, expressing their commitment to caring for Shanbaug.
 

In 2011, the Supreme Court allowed the petition and directed the formation of a medical committee to assess Shanbaug’s condition. The committee confirmed that she was in a permanently vegetative state. While the Supreme Court rejected Virani’s plea for euthanasia, it laid down guidelines for passive euthanasia, allowing the withdrawal of life support for patients in similar conditions. This judgment marked the first legalisation of passive euthanasia in India, though Shanbaug herself did not benefit from it.

Legalisation of passive euthanasia
 

Aruna Shanbaug’s case continued to resonate in legal and ethical discussions. On March 9, 2018, nearly three years after her death, the Supreme Court delivered a landmark judgment that allowed passive euthanasia across India. The five-judge Constitution bench, headed by the then Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, recognised the validity of “living wills” made by terminally ill patients and established procedures for passive euthanasia. Justice DY Chandrachud, part of the bench, said, “Life and death are inseparable. Every moment our bodies undergo change… dying is a part of the process of living.”