MP child rights body probes 3-yr-old's death after Santhara ritual

Indore: A child rights body in Madhya Pradesh has taken cognisance of the death of a 3-year-old girl suffering from a brain tumour who was initiated into “Santhara”, a fast unto death ritual of Jainism and will seek a response from the Indore district administration.

The girl breathed her last on March 21 after her parents initiated her into the Jain religious practice on the advice of a spiritual leader.

Talking to PTI on Monday, Omkar Singh, a member of the Madhya Pradesh Rajya Baal Adhikar Sanrakshan Ayog, said, “We have taken cognisance of the incident based on media reports. We have decided to issue a notice to the Indore district magistrate in this matter.”

He said the Aayog especially wanted to know how an innocent three-year-old girl could give her consent for ‘Santhara’.

Singh said, “We are going to issue a notice to the district magistrate, and appropriate action will be taken based on the response to the notice.”

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Santhara, also known as Sallekhana, is a Jain ritual of voluntarily fasting unto death. As per this practice, a person gradually reduces his or her intake of food and water until death as a means of achieving spiritual purification and detachment from the world.

The child’s parents, who are IT professionals, have said that they decided to make their only child observe this vow on the night of March 21 when she was very ill and was having difficulty eating and drinking.

According to the parents, their daughter breathed her last within a few minutes of the Jain monk completing the religious rites of “Santhara”.

They also informed that the Golden Book of World Records has issued a certificate of world record in the daughter’s name, describing her as “the youngest person in the world to vow the Jain ritual Santhara”.

In the religious terminology of the Jain community, Santhara is also called “Sallekhana” and “Samadhi Maran”. Under this ancient practice, a person gives up food, water and worldly things to embrace death when he or she feels that the end has come.

The debate over Santhara in legal and religious circles intensified in 2015 when the Rajasthan High Court declared the practice a punishable offence under sections 306 (abetment to suicide) and 309 (attempt to suicide) of the Indian Penal Code.

However, the apex court, while hearing petitions filed by various religious bodies of the Jain community, stayed the Rajasthan High Court order.

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