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Posted on 04/03/2004 1:19:12 AM PST by VinayFromBangalore
As medical technology concentrates on prolonging life, a group of people in Kerala are looking for the right to commit suicide -- not because they are sick or despondent but because they are completely content.
Turning the definition of euthanasia, or mercy killing, on its head, these people want to follow their motto of "live well and leave well".
They have been shown the way by Thomas Master, an 85-year-old schoolteacher who hanged himself to death in Thrissur earlier this week because he had accomplished what he had to in life.And the leader of the pack that wants to determine their own "cut-off" age from life is a billionaire businessman from Kerala's coastal Kochi town.
Thomas had petitioned the Kerala High Court in 1997 seeking permission to end his life. His death has prompted Kochuouseph Chittilapally, 54, who had also approached the Kerala High Court with a similar petition five years ago, to see if he can get other like-minded people together.
"After the death of Thomas, I had received several telephone calls asking what can be done. In fact, I knew Thomas quite well and even had a discussion on the petition with him," Chittilapally told IANS.
Chittilapally, who heads the Kochi based V-Guard group, said he had approached the courts to allow him to register a document, which states that he should be allowed to leave the world as and when desired by him. No medicines or treatment should stop him from ending his life.
The master of a Rs. 1.5-billion business empire is yet to hear on the petition.
Chittilapally has 16 years to work towards his goal because he says he wants to end his life at 70.
"I am 54 now and my cut off age, when I prefer to leave the world, is 70. Irrespective of my health, I think it will be time for me to leave the world because I do not want to be a burden to anyone.
"Since I am quite well off, my family will give all the treatment money can buy if I am sick and unwell at that age. But I do not wish to have such a treatment and prolong my life," he said.
It may sound like an eccentric ambition but there are enough people for Chittilapally to think of starting an association to press for their demands and help them fight the legal battle to die.
Added Chittilapally, who built Kerala's first amusement park and is now building one in Bangalore: "I have been reading whatever material on this subject that I could find. I have found that in the US, people are allowed to register documents, just what I asked the Kerala High Court for." "So if need be, as and when our association is formed, the first thing we will do is seek legal redress," he said.
The single point agenda of the millionaire businessman is "live well and leave well".
In the coming days, Kerala could well see the formation of an association that challenges the law, traditional codes of life and poses profound ethical questions.
go ahead, do it....we could care less....
if people want to die , let them.....why do they insist on making it a public display.....
here this guy is making all this fuss 16 years before he wants to die.....geesh....
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