Aruna Shanbaug, 67, the world's oldest comatose patient, silently passed away in Mumbai's King Edward Memorial Hospital, 42 years after a sexual attack in 1973 left her with severe brain damage and paralysis.
King Edward Memorial Hospital's Dean Avinash Supe stated that formalities and permissions are in the process of being completed before finalizing Shanbaug's last rites, according to The Huffington Post.
He has also made a public appeal to help trace any relatives of the nurse, so that they can get in touch with the hospital immediately. Shanbaug's family has not been in contact with her, especially afterher parents died many years ago.
A spokesman at KEM Hospital gave the details regarding the comatose patient's death, which came years after a series of appeals regarding her right to die fell on deaf ears in Mumbai's Supreme Court, according to a report by BBC News.
"Ms Shanbaug died at 08:30am on Monday. She was admitted to the intensive care unit and put on ventilator support," he said.
Journalist and author Pinki Virani, who wrote a book on Aruna's story, extended her sentiments in an interview with BBC News.
"My broken, battered baby bird finally flew away. And she gave India a passive euthanasia law before doing so," she said.
Virani filed a case in the Supreme Court of Mumbai in 2011, arguing that the nurse was "virtually a dead person" and should be allowed to die. However, the appeal was rejected by the Supreme Court, according to BBC News.
Shanbaug was 25 years old when she was attacked in the Mumbai hospital were she worked as a nurse. She was sodomized and strangled with metal chains by Sohanlal Bharta Walmiki, a hospital cleaner also working at the hospital then
He was not charged for any crime however, as sodomy was not considered as a capital offense during that time.
