Surge in euthanasia requests: Mumbai BMC holds 75 living wills after Harish Rana case
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New Delhi: Mumbai's Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has received 75 notarized living wills seeking euthanasia in cases of irreversible coma or terminal illness—sparked by India's first court-approved passive euthanasia—but lacks guidelines to act on them.
Applicants specify mercy in "serious illness or accident" scenarios with no recovery hope. BMC stores them securely, but Mayor Ritu Tawde clarified: “Any patient who submits a euthanasia letter, we keep it safely, but its implementation is the responsibility of the family. The court has allowed us to hold these letters, but we cannot execute them ourselves.”
Post-Supreme Court ruling legalizing passive euthanasia, ward medical officers monitor submissions. The state eyes an online portal to simplify filings.
The rush follows 31-year-old Harish Rana's death at AIIMS Delhi. In a coma since a 2013 fourth-floor fall as an engineering student, his parents won court approval to withdraw life support— a landmark for end-of-life care.
Rana's case underscores rising demand amid legal ambiguity, as BMC awaits protocols.
(Inputs from IANS)