Schoolgirl dead after 68-day fast

Aradhana with her parents on October 1, the day she broke her fast

TT, Hyderabad, Oct. 8: A 13-year-old girl died in Secunderabad this week after fasting for 68 days in accordance with a Jain tradition, prompting an NGO to lodge a police complaint against her family.

Aradhana Samdariya, a Class VIII pupil at St Francis School, was the daughter of a jeweller, Lakshmichand Samdariya. She was not attempting the Santhara or Sallekhana, under which one starves oneself to death to attain salvation.

Sources said that Aradhana had completed her tapasya, undertaken during the Chaturmasya period, on October 1 at a public event attended by an MP.

"The next day she was given warm water and juice. But she complained of unease and a respiratory problem and collapsed," additional deputy commissioner of police Yadagiri Palakurthi said.

He said the family took her to the KIMS hospital, where she was declared dead on arrival. "Cardiac arrest was given as the reason for death," Palakurthi said.

A child rights organisation, the Balala Hakkula Sangham, approached Hyderabad police commissioner Mahender Reddy on Friday, accusing the parents of forcing Aradhana into the fast and pressing for a case to be registered.

"The girl was coerced by her family on the advice of a Chennai-based Jain monk, who had said such a fast would bring good luck to the family's business, which had seen a slump," a Sangham official, Achyuta Rao, alleged. "This is nothing but child sacrifice."

The Samdariya family and friends have denied the allegation and claimed that Aradhana was deeply religious and had decided to fast of her own will. She had completed a 34-day fast last year, they added.

"There was no problem with the business. The girl had always shown a keen interest in Jain rituals and was planning to take up sanyas soon," said Piyush Jain, a family friend. "She was healthy, else the fast would not have been allowed."

Yadagiri said the local police station had entered the complaint in its general diary; no case had been registered yet. "A probe is on to ascertain the facts. Preliminary investigations suggest that it was the girl who had insisted on completing the 68-day fast, going against her parents' advice," the officer said.

The fast was publicised in the media and invitation cards sent out in large numbers for the fast-breaking event at Secunderabad's Jain Bhavan on October 1.

Telangana excise minister Padma Rao Goud and a Telangana Rashtra Samithi MP, Bheemrao Baswanthrao Patil, were announced as the chief guests. The minister could not attend the event but the MP was there, Achyuta Rao said. The MP could not be reached for comment despite repeated calls to his cell number.