Father writes to President Mukherjee seeking permission to kill 6 of his 8 children suffering from a rare degenerative neurological disease

In a heartbreaking letter to President Pranab Mukherjee, a 42-year-old man in Agra, Mohd Nazir has pleaded for euthanasia or mercy killing for six of his eight children who are suffering from a rare neurological disease.Mohd Nazir said he wanted to end the suffering of his children, aged between 8 and 18 years old, who have all been diagnosed with Canavan disease.The degenerative condition gradually paralyzes the body, leading to seizures as well as vision and hearing loss.'I am tired of taking care of my children,' he told NDTV. 'I'm a normal sweet shop owner, there's only so much I can do for them.'That is when I decided to write to the President of India, pleading euthanasia for my children.'He said that in two to three years, his children will no longer be able to walk but he had no way of financing their treatment.'They will live out their lives in pain and I don't want this for them,' he said.Their mother Tabassum has lost hope and is scared for the future of her children. "My kids want a normal life. They want to be a part of festivities too but because of their condition, they can't," she was quoted as saying by NDTVThe couple also have two other children, their eldest son and youngest daughter, who do not have Canavan disease.Mr Nazir's desperate appeal follows the incident of Aruna Shanbaug, who remained in a vegetative state for four decades after a sexual assault and passed away recently after catching pneumonia.The Supreme Court had rejected Aruna Shanbaug’s friend's plea for euthanasia in March 2011 but, in its landmark judgment, allowed passive euthanasia in India.Mr Nazir’s request for mercy killing does not fall under the Supreme Court's guidelines in Aruna Shanbaug’s case for regulated passive euthanasia which allows withdrawal of life-prolonging medical treatment for the terminally ill patients.The Procedure laid down by Supreme Court in Aruna Shaunbag’s case to be adopted by the High Court in an an application for conducting Passive Euthanasia is as follows:When such an application is filed the Chief Justice of the High Court should forthwith constitute a Bench of at least two Judges who should decide to grant approval or not. Before doing so the Bench should seek the opinion of a committee of three reputed doctors to be nominated by the Bench after consulting such medical authorities/medical practitioners as it may deem fit. Preferably one of the three doctors should be a neurologist, one should be a psychiatrist, and the third a physician. For this purpose a panel of doctors in every city may be prepared by the High Court in consultation with the State Government/Union Territory and their fees for this purpose may be fixed.The committee of three doctors nominated by the Bench should carefully examine the patient and also consult the record of the patient as well as taking the views of the hospital staff and submit its report to the High Court Bench.Simultaneously with appointing the committee of doctors, the High Court Bench shall also issue notice to the State and close relatives e.g. parents, spouse, brothers/sisters etc. of the patient, and in their absence his/her next friend, and supply a copy of the report of the doctor’s committee to them as soon as it is available. After hearing them, the High Court bench should give its verdict. The above procedure should be followed all over India until Parliament makes legislation on this subject.The High Court should give its decision speedily at the earliest, since delay in the matter may result in causing great mental agony to the relatives and persons close to the patient.The High Court should give its decision assigning specific reasons in accordance with the principle of `best interest of the patient’ laid down by the House of Lords in Airedale’s case .The views of the near relatives and committee of doctors should be given due weight by the High Court before pronouncing a final verdict which shall not be summary in nature.However this tragic story of Mohd Nazir and his children lay bare the reality of a section of our population which may not be in a position to afford adequate health services or take recourse to expensive litigation process.It is understood that the disease is curable; however Mohd Nazir conceded that he could not afford to pay for treatment and insists on euthanising his children. "If not euthanasia, I would request the President to give me financial assistance for the treatment of my children," said the distraught father.After Aruna Shaunbaug, Mohd Nazir’s children have now revived the debate on Euthanasia in India. The debate on Euthanasia is also raging across the world and it has polarized opinions globally.Recently, world renowned physicist Stephen Hawking has added fuel to an already raging fire by saying that he would consider assisted suicide as keeping someone alive against their own wishes is the "ultimate indignity". The United Kingdom has recently floated a landmark Bill that legalises assisted dying in...

Father writes to President Mukherjee seeking permission to kill 6 of his 8 children suffering from a rare degenerative neurological disease

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