TODAY, Aruna Shanbaug or Chatak Chandni as the KEM staff fondly call her, will turn 63 and the nurses at the hospital are making special preparations to celebrate her birthday.

Aruna was gifted 'life' by the Supreme Court after it rejected the plea for her mercy killing earlier this year.


The Supreme Court on March 7 had rejected the plea for euthanasia in Aruna's case

The staff will decorate Ward A, where Aruna has been kept for the last 37 years and buy a special cake for her and prepare fish curry on the occasion.

Every year, staffers from Ward A celebrate Aruna's birthday by distributing sweets and putting a pinch of sugar in Aruna's mouth.

A senior nurse said, "We celebrate her birthday every year, it's a special day for all of us."
Aruna was raped by Sohanlal Bharta Valmiki, a ward boy, on November 27, 1973 and has been in a vegetative state ever since.

The Supreme Court on March 7 had rejected the plea for euthanasia, a move that was hailed by the nurses
at KEM Hospital who have taken care of Aruna all these years.