A couple from Neeruguttavaripalle locality of Madanapalle town on Friday approached the local court, appealing for euthanasia for their seven-year-old daughter, said to be suffering from cerebral palsy since birth.
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Ramakrishna and Geetanjali of Cherlopalle village of Gurramkonda mandal got married a decade ago. They later moved to Madanapalle for eking out livelihood. Ramakrishna works as a construction worker.
Their daughter, Nagarani, showed signs of cerebral palsy when she was born. The child was taken to the Government Hospital at Tirupati for treatment. The couple told the media at Madanapalle that in the last seven years, they kept visiting the government and private hospitals in various cities for providing treatment to the child.
Having disposed of their little properties, the couple was left with no funds to cater to the medical bills of the child. The condition of the girl at present is such that she is still fed milk in a bottle, as she showed no signs of any mental or biological growth.
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The couple said as they were no longer able to look after the child and provide her any treatment, they took a decision to seek euthanasia for the child, submitting the appeal at the II Additional District Judge court at Madanapalle.
Past cases
The Madanapalle division witnessed four such cases wherein parents approached the court for mercy killing to their sick children. In 2016, a three-year-old girl, who was suffering from a serious cardiac ailment, was provided with medical care by the then TDP government, and this led to her total recovery. In the same year, a teenage girl succumbed to cancer a couple of weeks after approaching the court pleading for grant of euthanasia.