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| India-Pakistan |
| Woman prepares to die under Jain ritual, sparks debate |
| 2006-09-24 |
| JAIPUR: A 60-year-old woman suffering from brain tumour here has embarked on an age-old Jain ritual of Santhara, under which she has stopped taking food or water with an intention to die. The move has sparked a debate, with a local advocate filing a PIL, equating the practice with suicide and mercy killing. After Vimla Devi Bhansali was told by doctors that her brain tumour was incurable, she decided to stop taking food or water in order to die instead of waiting for the disease to consume her. A large number of her relatives and members of the Shwetambar Jain community visited her Chhatrsal Colony home on Sunday. Followers of this Jain sect also came from nearby towns, loaded in cars and buses, to visit Bhansali. Santhara is practised among the Shwetambar Jain community in old age. Those observing Santhara do not want to live any more and would prepare to die by lying down in a wooden cot and refusing drink or food. |
| Posted by:john |
| #1 The first Indian Emperor Chandragupta Maurya reportedly died by this ritual |
| Posted by: john 2006-09-24 16:20 |