AIIMS-Delhi begins passive euthanasia process for Harish

A specialised medical team headed by Dr Seema Mishra, professor and head of the Department of Anaesthesia and Palliative Medicine, has been constituted at AIIMS to implement the process, the first such case in India.

Rana has been in a vegetative state since 2013. He was shifted from his Ghaziabad home to the palliative care unit at the Dr BR Ambedkar Institute Rotary Cancer Hospital at AIIMS on March 14.

The team comprises doctors from the departments of neurosurgery, onco-anaesthesia and palliative medicine, and psychiatry.

The Supreme Court on March 11 allowed passive euthanasia for Rana, a BTech student at Panjab University who fell from a fourth-floor balcony in 2013 and suffered severe head injuries. He has been in a coma since, dependent on artificial nutrition and occasional oxygen support.

The court also directed AIIMS-Delhi to ensure that life support is withdrawn through a tailored plan so that dignity is maintained. It clarified that the order does not amount to active euthanasia, but involves the gradual withdrawal of the feeding tube so that the process of death may take place with dignity.

The passive euthanasia process involves shifting the focus from curative treatment to palliative care, including pain relief, emotional support and maintaining comfort without artificially prolonging life.

After the process is completed, Rana’s body will be handed over to his family for final rites.

A viral video from the Rana family’s home in Ghaziabad shows a member of the Brahma Kumaris placing a “tilak” on Harish’s forehead and softly saying, “Sabko maaf karte hue, sabse maafi mangte hue, so jaao”.

The woman seen in the video was identified as Sister Lovely of the Brahma Kumaris.