Thalaikoothel: Bath Of Death

I am inspired  to know about this topic from Satyameva Jayate and some of my personal research too. I am somewhat sure that people know very little about this topic. Thalaikoothel  is one of the cultures of Tamilians and came out from the state Tamil Nadu, India.After knowing about this culture, goosebumps runs free on my body.

Typically, the elderly person is given an extensive oil bath early in the morning and subsequently made to drink glasses of tender coconut water which results in kidney failure, high fever, fits and death within a day or two . This technique may also involve a head massage with cold water, which may lower body temperature sufficiently to cause heart failure. Alternative methods involve force feeding cow's milk while plugging the nose, causing breathing difficulties or use of poisons.

Although Thalaikoothal is illegal in India, the practice has long received covert social acceptance as a form of mercy killing, and people seldom complain to the police. In some case, the family informs their relatives before performing Thalaikoothal, and the victims sometimes even request it. However, social acceptance may lead to more egregious abuses, the issue gained a higher profile in early 2010, when an 80 years old man escaped when he came to know of his fate and heard his family members discussing how they were going to share his lands, and took refuge in a relative's home.

The investigation revealed the practice to be "fairly widespread" in the southern district of Tamil Nadu. Dozens or perhaps hundreds of case occur each year. Men are more often the targets of Thalaikoothal for a number of reasons, Social taboos make care gives more reluctant to care for aged men. Assets are often in the name of men, providing additional incentives. Finally, older men are considered to have no housekeeping or other skills making them of little value to the household.

According to my research, I have the story of an old aged women, who has also been a victim of Thalaikoothal at an age of 70. This is the story of Virudhnagar district, the village named Allagyanallu, Tamil Nadu. A very happy family of five members, elder son with his wife and their two small children with 70-year-old aged mother.

It was a property matter, India is a country where, a number of murder cases are related to properties. Connecting again to the previous topic, They were having a property on favour of the old aged mother, elder son and his wife used to harm her by using abusing words. The old lady had been tortured physically as well as mentally by both of them, but the old lady kept her words till the end, she didn't hand over the property to her son.

           Once a family members were discussing the oil bath (thalaikoothel) of the old lady, and immediately her thalaikoothel has been done.They had a very normal behaviour after killing their own mother

Ahh! this is going in our Incredible India, isn't a very shameful thing for our nation where, our great culture is supposed to value for respect for elders and respect for women. We supposedly treat women as a goddess and touch our elders feet as a mark of respect.

    #Respect To Elders is Respect To Nation.