A retired Indian headmaster hanged himself three years after a court turned down his petition to exercise his right to die, it was reported on Friday.
CV Thomas (85) hanged himself in his home in Thrissur in southern Kerala state. A note taped to his neck said: ”Bondage was worse than death. Let this fate not befall any other.”
Thomas said he had fulfilled his life’s obligations and wanted to die at a time of his choice and donate his organs. In his petition he asked for the government to start suicide clinics in each district hospital, the Telegraph newspaper reported.
His plea was rejected by the Kerala High Court, which ruled there was no legal sanction for artificial death, voluntary or involuntary, and that such deaths would be considered suicide.
Thomas believed that every person should have the freedom to choose the time, place and mode of death.
Thomas’s advocate, Vincent Panikkulangara, said he was flooded with requests from elderly clients who wanted legal sanction to die.
Several approached the court after Thomas’s petition was dismissed arguing they had the right to plan their death to avoid the trauma of disability and dependence on others.
Sociologists say the increasing number of such cases highlights the problems of the elderly. According to the 1991 census, Kerala had 2,6-million senior citizens, which is projected to increase to 7,2-million by 2021. — Sapa-DPA