3-Year-Old Girl Dies as Parents Make Her Take 'Santhara' Vow in MP

The Girl's Parents Received Recognition as She Became the Youngest Person to 'Vow the Santhara'

- Shruti Tomar

BHOPAL: A three-year-old girl died after her parents initiated her into the Jain religious practice of fasting unto death, citing her terminal brain tumour diagnosis, bringing into focus the controversial practice known as Santhara.

The incident occurred in Indore district, Madhya Pradesh, on March 21 but came to light this week when IT professionals Piyush Jain, 35, and Varsha Jain, 32, received recognition from the Golden Book of World Records, a US-based organisation, after their daughter Viyana became the youngest person to "vow the religious ritual Santhara."

Santhara, also called Sallekhana, is a practice in which a person voluntarily gives up food and water with the intention of dying. It was briefly struck down as illegal in 2015 by the Rajasthan high court that ruled the practice was not essential to Jainism, but the ruling was stayed shortly after by the Supreme Court—making it legal.