The case of Lavates
- Narayan Lavate (88) and Iravati Lavate (78) from Maharashtra say that they do not wish to be a burden on society in their old age.
- They don’t have children and their siblings are no more, they say. They argue that spending the country’s scarce resources on keeping them alive, the old and ailing alive, is a criminal waste.
- The couple sees the aversion to euthanasia in India as a sign of the country’s cultural backwardness. They see no point in living only because a legal system demands it.
- At the same time, they are averse to the idea of committing suicide, which is an offence in India.
- What if something goes wrong, they wonder. The Lavates are fit.
- They worry for themselves and other old couples like them who want to die.
- But no one is ready to pay attention to their request. After writing letters to various Chief Ministers, legal experts like Ram Jethmalani, and Members of Parliament, all of which did not yield results, they have now written to President Ram Nath Kovind, hoping for a favourable response to their plea of mercy death or physician-assisted suicide.
- But it is highly unlikely that the state will listen to their request. We are still not comfortable with the concept of euthanasia.