Ghaziabad: When parents express a wish for their child’s death, it isn’t an act of cruelty but rather a desperate expression of love. Unable to bear their child’s suffering, Ashok Rana and his wife approached the court to request permission for their son, Harish, to end his own life.
A Daily Battle Between Life and Death
And amid this longing and waiting, under the roof of this house, the struggle between life and death continues. It’s a struggle where every day, life and death clash, and though life wins, it feels like a defeat because the people living in this house don’t pray for life; they pray for death. This is the story of Harish. A six-by-four bed is his entire world. Despite such a small world, Harish hasn’t seen even this little world for the last 11 years. He can’t get up, walk, turn over, laugh, cry, speak, eat, or drink by himself. He can’t even express his pain or suffering. Simply put, he is a living corpse—a living corpse with a heartbeat but no life.
This Family Endures Endless Pain
In an apartment in Ghaziabad, there’s a three-room home where four people live: the head of the family, Ashok Rana, his wife Nirmala Devi, and their younger son Ashish. All the other rooms are like those in any typical home, but there is one room that sets this house apart. In that room lies a young man on a bed. His name is Harish Rana, around 32-33 years old. Even if I say nothing more, seeing Harish in this condition, you can imagine a lot. But you cannot truly grasp the extent of the pain that Harish and his entire family have been enduring for the past 11 years.
Harish Fell from the Fourth Floor
This story is from 11 years ago. Back then, Harish and his family’s lives were full of joy. Harish wanted to become an engineer. To fulfill this dream, he got admitted to Chandigarh University in 2013. He started his engineering studies and was staying in a PG near the university in Mohali. His room was on the fourth floor of the PG. One day, after returning from college, Harish was standing on the balcony of his PG, and suddenly, he fell from the balcony. Harish was immediately taken to PGI Chandigarh with severe head injuries. He was breathing but unconscious.
Police Registered an FIR, Allegations Made
Since it was an accident, the Mohali police registered an FIR. Harish’s family alleged that some boys deliberately pushed their son from the balcony. Harish’s condition showed no improvement at PGI Chandigarh. The doctors had given up. But his parents did not lose hope. They took Harish from PGI Chandigarh to AIIMS in Delhi. There, too, he underwent long treatment, but his condition did not improve. The doctors at AIIMS also gave up. After AIIMS, Harish was taken to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, then Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital, and later to Fortis Hospital. But there was no improvement anywhere.
Everything Spent on Harish’s Treatment
Due to the treatment, the family’s financial condition worsened day by day. Harish’s father, Ashok Rana, worked for a catering service company. His salary was not much, and there was no other source of income. The younger son Ashish was still very young. Despite this, they spent everything on Harish’s treatment, even selling their house in Delhi. But Harish’s condition did not improve; he remained a living corpse on the bed. When every doctor and hospital gave up, Harish’s parents brought him home. They hired a nurse for Harish’s care, but the nurse’s expenses were high. Ashok Rana, earning 28,000 rupees a month, used to pay 27,000 rupees to the nurse.
Father Started Selling Sandwiches and Sprouts to Run the Household
Running the household along with the treatment became difficult. Eventually, Ashok Rana was retired from his job. The younger son had not yet started working. They had to let the nurse go, and Harish’s parents started taking care of him themselves. To manage their expenses, Ashok Rana began selling sandwiches and sprouts. There is a ground near their house where many children come to play, especially on Saturdays and Sundays. Initially, Ashok Rana made sandwiches and sprouts at home and sold them to the children at the ground, managing some household expenses. They received a pension of 3,000 rupees, but it was still hard to run the household.
A Helpless Mother’s Wish
Ten years had passed with Harish lying alive but dead on that bed. In these ten years, Harish’s condition did not change a bit, but the lives of the other three family members completely changed. He was attached to a urine bag and a food pipe, through which his mother fed him daily. Over time, Harish turned from a human into a skeleton.
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Mother Requested Death from the Court
Harish’s mother made a decision—a decision that perhaps no other mother in the world would make. With this decision, Harish’s entire family decided to knock on the doors of the Delhi High Court with a plea. As the wish remained unfulfilled and the wait prolonged, this time Harish’s family requested the court for Harish’s death, asking for euthanasia. They argued that there was no hope left for his life, nothing left to call living, and keeping such a living corpse alive was making life difficult. They argued that the court could ask any doctor or a board of doctors before making a decision.
Court Rejected the Euthanasia Appeal
The court said the law does not permit it, citing the Constitution, which gives every Indian the right to live with dignity but does not allow anyone to die with their own choice. Therefore, after the wish and wait, the court also refused to grant Harish his death.
The Supreme Court Will Decide on Death
Now that the court has rejected the plea for death, Harish’s mother and the family are left wondering what will happen next. They have spent 11 long years with their son like this, and now they wonder how many more years or months will pass like this. Harish’s life and death will now be decided by the apex court of the country, the Supreme Court.
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