India Michael headed for work at a textile mill, leaving his wife, children and infirm mother at home in this impoverished part of southern India. When he returned a few hours later, his mother's body was propped up in a chair surrounded by villagers and decorated with flowers, poisoned by his wife with a potion in a local form of mercy killing known as thalaikoothal.
Three decades later, he harbors no ill will toward his wife. "My mother had been sick and in pain for 20 days and wasn't eating properly," said Michael, 62, who like many southern Indians uses one name. "I was thinking of doing it myself. It was time, and there wasn't enough food to go around."
Even as India debates the morality and legality of euthanasia, three districts in the southern state of Tamil Nadu have been quietly carrying out a homegrown version for decades, or centuries, depending on whom you ask.
The practice in one small corner of India has declined under the spotlight after a high-profile 2010 case and growing opposition from elderly rights groups, but dozens, even hundreds, of cases of thalaikoothal, or "head pouring," occur quietly each year, people say.
"Some call it euthanasia," said Rajeshwar Devarakonda, social protection head at HelpAge India, a civic group focused on elderly care. "Others call it homicide."
Although it can take various forms, a common approach is that once an elderly relative becomes seriously ill and the family can't afford to care for the person, a date is set. Often relatives are called to say goodbye or even participate. The victim is given an oil bath, a head massage perhaps involving cold water and an exceedingly large amount of green coconut milk, leading to death.
Reducing a sick or frail person's body temperature can bring on heart failure, said Dr. Raja Natrajan, a geriatrician, while drinking excessive liquids can induce renal failure.
In a variation, victims are force-fed cow's milk and their noses pinched shut an act called "milk therapy" resulting in "breathing problems," said S. Gurusamy, a sociology professor at the Gandhigram Rural Institute.
Thalaikoothal traditionally for those 50 and older who become incapacitated, although younger people who become very ill are also targeted is as natural as a birthday or wedding, some say. "It's just the cycle of life," said Kalimuthu, 60, a Peraiyur village farmer with a white, receding hairline and a wispy mustache.
Despite community claims that it's used only in terminal cases, social acceptability has resulted in abuses, care experts said, as impatient family members "hurry things along" to gain control of the estate, sometimes with the help of compliant doctors or quacks who substitute poison-laced alcohol or pills for coconut milk.
"Nowadays, because of their assets, young people sometimes want thalaikoothal done even if it's just a cold or minor sickness," said Elango Rajarathinam, Virudhunagar-based director of Elders for Elders Foundation. "Old people are definitely scared of this practice. You can see the stress on their faces."
Occasionally, those targeted get wind of it and flee.
Others just accept their fate, experts said, even requesting thalaikoothal, less because they're ready to die than because society makes them feel worthless.
Ponnusamy, 67, a pipe fitter in a green shirt and purple dhoti, a type of sarong, recently suffered two heart attacks, leaving him worried about more than his ticker.
"I trust my wife wouldn't think like that," he said, gazing over the infertile landscape at two bullocks with decoratively painted blue horns. "If my family tried thalaikoothal on me, I'd ask why. If they didn't answer, I might resign myself to it."
In southern India, relatives sometimes quietly kill their elders - latimes.com
Three decades later, he harbors no ill will toward his wife. "My mother had been sick and in pain for 20 days and wasn't eating properly," said Michael, 62, who like many southern Indians uses one name. "I was thinking of doing it myself. It was time, and there wasn't enough food to go around."
Even as India debates the morality and legality of euthanasia, three districts in the southern state of Tamil Nadu have been quietly carrying out a homegrown version for decades, or centuries, depending on whom you ask.
The practice in one small corner of India has declined under the spotlight after a high-profile 2010 case and growing opposition from elderly rights groups, but dozens, even hundreds, of cases of thalaikoothal, or "head pouring," occur quietly each year, people say.
"Some call it euthanasia," said Rajeshwar Devarakonda, social protection head at HelpAge India, a civic group focused on elderly care. "Others call it homicide."
Although it can take various forms, a common approach is that once an elderly relative becomes seriously ill and the family can't afford to care for the person, a date is set. Often relatives are called to say goodbye or even participate. The victim is given an oil bath, a head massage perhaps involving cold water and an exceedingly large amount of green coconut milk, leading to death.
Reducing a sick or frail person's body temperature can bring on heart failure, said Dr. Raja Natrajan, a geriatrician, while drinking excessive liquids can induce renal failure.
In a variation, victims are force-fed cow's milk and their noses pinched shut an act called "milk therapy" resulting in "breathing problems," said S. Gurusamy, a sociology professor at the Gandhigram Rural Institute.
Thalaikoothal traditionally for those 50 and older who become incapacitated, although younger people who become very ill are also targeted is as natural as a birthday or wedding, some say. "It's just the cycle of life," said Kalimuthu, 60, a Peraiyur village farmer with a white, receding hairline and a wispy mustache.
Despite community claims that it's used only in terminal cases, social acceptability has resulted in abuses, care experts said, as impatient family members "hurry things along" to gain control of the estate, sometimes with the help of compliant doctors or quacks who substitute poison-laced alcohol or pills for coconut milk.
"Nowadays, because of their assets, young people sometimes want thalaikoothal done even if it's just a cold or minor sickness," said Elango Rajarathinam, Virudhunagar-based director of Elders for Elders Foundation. "Old people are definitely scared of this practice. You can see the stress on their faces."
Occasionally, those targeted get wind of it and flee.
Others just accept their fate, experts said, even requesting thalaikoothal, less because they're ready to die than because society makes them feel worthless.
Ponnusamy, 67, a pipe fitter in a green shirt and purple dhoti, a type of sarong, recently suffered two heart attacks, leaving him worried about more than his ticker.
"I trust my wife wouldn't think like that," he said, gazing over the infertile landscape at two bullocks with decoratively painted blue horns. "If my family tried thalaikoothal on me, I'd ask why. If they didn't answer, I might resign myself to it."
In southern India, relatives sometimes quietly kill their elders - latimes.com
