Former nurse at KEM Hospital, Aruna Shanbaug, a victim of a brutal rape, died at the KEM hospital on May 18, 2015. Shanbaug was in a vegetative state for more than 40 years and passed away of pneumonia.
The death was confirmed by Dr. Pravin Bangar the medical superintendent of King Edward Memorial Hospital. Bangar said, “She passed away at 8.30am. She had been diagnosed with pneumonia and had been on ventilator for the past few days.” Shanbaug was in a critical condition in the intensive care unit and was put on ventilator for the past few days.
The doctors had attended the 67 year old former nurse after she complained of difficulty in breathing. Shanbaug was attacked by a sweeper, Sohanlal Bharta Valmiki on November 27, 1973 and in order to immobilise her, she wrapped a dog chain around her neck which cut the supply of oxygen to the brain. Valmiki had tried to rape her but left her injured after he found that she was menstruating.
Shanbaug was found the next day and realised that her brain was damaged due to the chain. Some of her parts of the brain were damaged. Shanbaug’s relatives stopped visiting her after a few years and her only sister Shanta Nayak died in September 2013. Since then the nurses at KEM had been taking care of her.
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