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+--- Thread: Parents Investigated After Girl Dies After 68- day fast (/showthread.php?tid=569)
Parents Investigated After Girl Dies After 68- day fast - Mhiz Rebecca - 10-11-2016
Indian police are investigating the parents of a 13-
year-old girl who died last week after undertaking a
religious fast for 68 days.
Police in southern Hyderabad city told BBC Hindi
they want to know if Aradhana Samdariya was
forced to fast.
Her parents have insisted she voluntarily fasted as
prescribed in Jainism, one of the world’s most
ancient religions.
The case has sparked a debate about the practice
of religious fasting in India.
Reports said Aradhana lived for 68 days on boiled
water. Two days after she called off her fast last
week, she was dead.
Experts believe it is possible for the human body to
survive without food for up to two months.
A police spokesperson said a case had been
registered against the parents after a child rights
organisation filed a complaint.
Voluntary fast?
“The parents – Laxmi Chand and Manshi
Samdariya – have been booked under culpable
homicide [causing death by negligence] and
Juvenile Justice Act [cruelty against minors],” the
spokesperson said.
The parents, wealthy jewellers based in Hyderabad,
have denied that they forced their daughter to fast.
“She asked permission for upvaas [fast that
involves renouncing food]. We asked her to stop
after 51 days but she would not give up. Her fast
was voluntary. No one forced her,” Mr Samdariya
said.
But social activists have rejected the family’s
claim.
“The entire nation should be ashamed that such a
practice still exists. Her father’s guru advised the
family that if she fasted for 68 days, his business
would be profitable,” activist Achyut Rao told BBC
Hindi.
“The girl was made to drink only water from
sunrise to sunset.There was no salt or lemon or
anything else.”
How long can someone survive without food?
Mr Rao also criticised the family for taking out a
funeral procession “to hail their daughter as a child
saint”.
“The shocking aspect is that the family is happy
that she was the rare one to be taken away by
God,” he said.
Prolonged fasting is popular among Jains, who are
a minority religious group in India.
Activists have often criticised another controversial
practice called santhara, in which a Jain gives up
food and water with the intention of preparing for
death.
The death of the teenager has once again put the
spotlight on such practices. Many people have
taken to Twitter to express their outrage.