Santhara Death Of A 3-Yr-Old Child Is A Murder!
By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam
5 May 2025
A three-year-old girl suffering from brain tumour died after her parents initiated her into the Jain religious practice of fasting unto death as advised by a spiritual leader in Madhya Pradesh's Indore.
Viyana, the only child of IT professionals Piyush and Varsha Jain, was diagnosed with a brain tumour in December 2024.
The incident surfaced recently after it was recorded in the Golden Book of World Records.
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The girl, Viyana Jain, who was their only child, breathed her last on March 21, her parents said.
Santhara, also known as Sallekhana, is a Jain ritual of voluntarily fasting unto death. As per this practice, a person gradually reduces his or her intake of food and water until death as a means of achieving spiritual purification and detachment from the world.
According to her parents, the Golden Book of World Records has taken note and issued a certificate in the name of Viyana for being "the youngest person in the world to vow the Jain ritual Santhara".
Her parents, who work as Information Technology (IT) professionals, say that they decided to make their daughter take the Santhara vow after being advised by a Jain muni (monk).
Sallekhana means to properly 'thin out', 'scour out', or 'slender' the passions and the body through gradually abstaining from food and drink. Sallekhana is divided into two components: Kashaya Sallekhana (slendering of passions) or Abhayantra Sallekhana (internal slendering) and kaya Sallekhana (slendering the body) or Bahya Sallekhana (external slendering). It is described as "facing death voluntarily through fasting". According to Jain texts, sallekhana leads to ahimsa (non-violence or non-injury), as a person observing sallekhana subjugates the passions, which are the root cause of himsa (injury or violence).
But it must be mentioned that the pristine Jainism that came into being 2,600 years ago, had no concept of Santhara or Ritualistic suicide (Hara-Kiri). It appeared approximately 2,000 years ago in Chedasutras (6)- Focus on the conduct and repentance of monks and nuns and in Digambara texts, viz, Shatkhandgama / Kasayaprabhrita. Till the 9th-century CE, Santhara was restricted only to the monks and Jain ascetics and not to the householders: Praan Haccha Sadham Nincha Avajjhayam. Householders began to take the vow of Santhara only a millennium ago. Moreover, Santhara couldn't be imposed on a person by someone else. Those who took the vow of Santhara, had to take it of their own accord. No person below the age of 16 could take a vow of Santhara however ill he or she may have been.
But here in this case, what does a 3-yr-old terminally ill child understand about the implications of a ritualistic suicide? The child cannot even make a decision. Her publicity-hungry parents and Jain Samaj gave the child Santhara and killed her. Agreed, she was destined to die, her parents expedited her end in order to create a world record of a 3-year-old child's Santhara death. Parents of the ill-fated are shamelessly displaying a certificate recognising their three-year-old daughter as a world record holder for undertaking 'Santhara', issued by the Golden Book of World Records, in Indore. To these heartless parents, a world record is far more important than the death of their offspring. They (Parents) must be held for this culpable homicide. The readers may be aware that the debate over Santhara in legal and religious circles intensified in 2015 when the Rajasthan High Court declared the practice a punishable offence under sections 306 (abetment to suicide) and 309 (attempt to suicide) of the Indian Penal Code.
However, the apex court, while hearing petitions filed by various religious bodies of the Jain community, stayed the Rajasthan High Court order. That the parents are cashing in on their child's death for a proverbial 15-minute Warholian fame is not just shocking, it's disgusting and reprehensible. Jains are the most ritualistic people. Their so-called 'religion' is not a separate or independent faith. It's just a tributary of Hinduism. Ironically, Jainism (and also Buddhism) emerged because extreme superstitions, shibboleths and obscurantism engulfed Vedic Hinduism. Both Mahavir and Buddha were against the hardcore religiosity. What an irony!
Today, the followers of Jainism are the most superstitious people indulging in a series of ritualistic mumbo-jumbo. Jain Munis (sadhus and Sadhvis) of both the sects of Jainism are the biggest criminals who misguide their followers. They're all escapists and wastrels. Some of them will roam naked (belonging to Digambar Sect), creating a social and visual nuisance to the people around. They must be behind bars till they breathe their last.
Most of the Jains follow Hindu rituals and worship the gods and goddesses of Hinduism. There's nothing wrong with that because Jainism is just an offshoot of Hinduism. Problem arises when Jains add their Jain rituals to already existing religious superstitions of Hindus. So, Jain ideology is nothing but a huge corpus of obscure religious practices.
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A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian.
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/santhara-death-child-murder/d/135429
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