Teenager dies after ending 68 days of ‘holy starvation

A school girl’s 68-day fast turned tragic as she developed complications on the second day of concluding her ‘holy starvation’ and died of cardiac arrest here.

While Aaradhana (13), a class 8 student of St. Francis School, died on Monday night, police began a probe on Saturday after a child rights organisation approached them, seeking the arrest of the teen’s parents. Anuradha Rao, president, Balala Hakkula Sangham, alleged that the parents, at the behest of a Jain Guru, had forced the girl to undertake a fast unto death.

‘Fell sick suddenly’

Eldest of the two daughters of jeweller Laxmi Chand of Secunderabad, Aaradhana ended her 68 days of fasting on October 1.

“It seems for the next two days — on October 2 and 3 — she was on liquid diet. But on the night of October 3, she suddenly fell sick,” Inspector M. Mattaiah, who is probing the case, told The Hindu.

The family rushed the girl, who was sweating profusely and gasping for breath, to the nearby Kakatiya Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS). Doctors declared her brought dead though attempts were made to treat her. “Her pulse was down and heartbeat too was not normal when she reached the hospital,” the Inspector said. Aaradhana’s parents told the police that she strictly followed the fasting and didn’t take any solid food. She used to have only water and, after 6 p.m., that too was forbidden.

“Even an adult’s heart would be affected if food is avoided for more than 45 days. The 68-day fast drastically affected the functioning of her heart,” police quoted the doctors as saying.

Even as the doctors declared the girl dead, the shocked parents requested them to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to revive her. Doctors tried in vain. The young girl’s funeral was performed after a procession with over 500 persons was taken out from her house to the graveyard at Kavadiguda.

“It is said that some tried to glorify the girl’s death, describing her as ‘Bal Tapasvi’ and the procession as ‘Shobha Yatra’. This and the allegation that the parents drove her to death are being probed,” the Inspector said.