Ghaziabad (UP), Mar 24 (PTI) Silence fell on the residence of Harish Rana, the first person in India to be allowed passive euthanasia, as news broke on Tuesday that he breathed his last at AIIMS Delhi, bringing to an end his 13-year suffering.
Harish slipped into a coma in 2013 after falling from a fourth-floor balcony when he was a B.Tech student at Panjab University. He was shifted to the palliative care unit at AIIMS Delhi earlier this month from his Ghaziabad home following a landmark Supreme Court order permitting the withdrawal of life support for him.
His father had earlier described the decision as “extremely painful but necessary”.
Neighbours and well-wishers gathered at Harish’s Raj Empire Society here and recalled his family’s unwavering commitment to care for him despite the emotional and financial strain.
“It is so sad,” said a local resident, Tejas Chaturvedi. “The family did everything they could for him all these years.” Harish’s parents, Ashok Rana and Nirmala Devi, who had spent over a decade tending to their son, often at great personal cost, including selling their house for treatment, were at AIIMS preparing for the final rites.
In the days leading up to Harish’s passing, a video surfaced online, showing members of the Brahma Kumaris offering prayers at the family’s home and urging him to “sleep peacefully” while seeking and granting forgiveness to all — a ritual meant to ease the soul’s passage.
Sister Lovely from the Brahma Kumaris’ Seva Kendra here told PTI that the cremation will take place at the Green Park cremation ground in south Delhi on Wednesday morning, where prayers will be offered for the departed soul.
“We will be there around 8.30 am to pray for his peace,” she said, adding that prayers were also held on Tuesday.
On March 11, the Supreme Court, while allowing passive euthanasia for Harish, had clarified that it will involve the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment such as feeding tube, while continuing palliative care to allow a natural death with dignity. Medical experts had concluded that his condition was irreversible. PTI MAN CDN DIV DIV
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