Thalaikoothal
{{Short description|Killing of the elderly in Tamil Nadu, India}}
{{about||the 2023 Indian Tamil-language film|Thalaikoothal (film)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2020}}
Thalaikoothal ({{langx|ta|தலைக்கூத்தல்}}, lit. showering){{needs-IPA|Tamil|lang=ta}} is the traditional practice of senicide (killing of the elderly) or involuntary euthanasia, by their own family members, observed in some parts of southern districts of Tamil Nadu state of India.
Methods
Typically, the person is given an extensive oil-bath early in the morning and subsequently made to drink glasses of tender coconut water which results in kidney failure, high fever, fits, and death within a day or two.{{cite news|url=http://www.deccanchronicle.com/chennai/after-thalaikoothal-scare-80-year-old-fights-back-726 |title=After thalaikoothal scare, 80-year-old fights back |date=15 June 2010 |work=Deccan Chronicle |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101118043848/http://www.deccanchronicle.com/chennai/after-thalaikoothal-scare-80-year-old-fights-back-726 |archive-date=18 November 2010 }}{{cite journal|url=http://www.tehelka.com/story_main47.asp?filename=Ne201110Maariyamma.asp|title=Mother, shall I put you to sleep?|volume=7|issue=46|date=20 November 2010|journal=Tehelka|access-date=28 November 2010|archive-date=8 September 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120908025646/http://www.tehelka.com/story_main47.asp?filename=Ne201110Maariyamma.asp|url-status=dead}} This technique may also involve a head massage with cold water, which might lower body temperature sufficiently to cause heart failure.{{cite news|last= Magnier|first= Mark|url= https://www.latimes.com/world/la-xpm-2013-jan-15-la-fg-india-mercy-killings-20130116-story.html|title= In southern India, relatives sometimes quietly kill their elders|newspaper= Los Angeles Times|date= 15 January 2013|access-date= 16 January 2013|archive-date= 17 January 2013|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130117161659/http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jan/15/world/la-fg-india-mercy-killings-20130116|url-status= live}} Alternative methods involve force feeding cow's milk while plugging the nose, causing breathing difficulties (the "milk therapy") or use of poisons.
Incidence
Though thalaikoothal is illegal in India, the practice has long received covert social acceptance as a form of mercy killing, and people rarely complain to the police. In some cases the family informs their relatives before performing thalaikoothal, and occasionally the victims even request it. However, social acceptance may lead to more egregious abuses: the issue gained a higher profile in early 2010, when an 80-year-old man escaped after discovering his intended fate and heard his family members discussing how they were going to "share" his lands, and took refuge in a relative's home.
Investigation revealed the practice to be "fairly widespread" in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu.{{cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/magazine/No-mercy-killing-this/article16578389.ece|title=No mercy killing, this|date=20 March 2010|newspaper=The Hindu|first1=V.|last1=Suresh|first2=Penny|last2=Vera-Sanso|access-date=16 August 2020|archive-date=23 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023074020/https://www.thehindu.com/features/magazine/No-mercy-killing-this/article16578389.ece|url-status=live}} Dozens or perhaps hundreds of cases occur annually.
Response
In 2010, after an exposé in Virudhunagar district, the administration set up teams of officers to monitor the senior citizens.{{cite news|url=http://www.deccanchronicle.com/chennai/%E2%80%98mercy-killing%E2%80%99-tn-villages-787 |title='Mercy killing' in TN villages |date=26 January 2010 |work=Deccan Chronicle |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160115045842/http://www.deccanchronicle.com/chennai/%E2%80%98mercy-killing%E2%80%99-tn-villages-787 |archive-date=15 January 2016 }}{{cite news|url=http://www.deccanchronicle.com/chennai/family-murders-elders-be-probed-801 |title=Family murders of elders to be probed |date=2 February 2010 |work=Deccan Chronicle, Chennai |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100206014952/http://www.deccanchronicle.com/chennai/family-murders-elders-be-probed-801 |archive-date=6 February 2010 }}
Representation in modern cinema
- Thalaikoothal (2023)
- K.D. Engira Karuppudurai (2019)
- Baaram (2019)
- Marudhu (2016)
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://palliumindia.org/2010/03/defining-mercy/ Defining Mercy] Pallium India, March 2010
- [http://archive.tehelka.com/story_main47.asp?filename=Ne201110Maariyamma.asp Mother, shall I put you to sleep?] tehelka.com