18 December,2009 07:24 AM IST | | Vinod Kumar Menon and Hemal Asher
It has emerged that rape victim Aruna Ramachandra Shanbaug, who has been lying brain dead at the King Edward Memorial (KEM) Hospital in Parel since November 27, 1973, has not been subjected to a single CT or MRI scan for the last 36 years.
The scans, doctors say, would have helped treat Shanbaug, who used to be a nurse at the hospital.
Journalist Pinki Virani, author of the book Aruna's Story that highlighted Shanbaug's condition, had requested the Supreme Court on November 27 to get Aruna's force feeding stopped.
The court has sought medical reports from KEM Hospital to ascertain Shanbaug's condition.
Scans would help
A former dean of the hospital, who did not wish to be named, confirmed that Shanbaug has not received any care beyond basic care and feeding in all these years. "The scan reports would have helped in the clinical diagnoses," the former dean said.
When MiD DAY called to ask Dr Sanjay Oak, dean, KEM Hospital, if Shanbaug was never subjected to an MRI or CT scan in her 36 years in the hospital, he refused to comment.
Aruna was a KEM Hospital nurse who was strangulated and then sodomised by a ward boy Sohanlal Valmiki.
