Delhi teen
His sister was studying in another room.
The teenager took out his father’s licenced pistol from a cupboard and asked Prashant to take his photos on his mobile phone.
“The teenager was holding the pistol in his hand and posing for a photo, pointing the firearm at Prashant, who was standing in front of him with the cellphone in his hand. While Prashant was taking the photo, the boy accidentally pressed the trigger. The bullet hit Prashant in the right side of his chest. He collapsed on the floor,” said Shhivam Chauhan, quoting the statement the teenager gave to the police.
Hearing the gunshot, the teenager’s mother and sister rushed to the room and found Prashant Chauhan unconscious. The mother asked her son to call the neighbours so they could take him to the hospital. The teenager alerted neighbours and rushed to a police booth located some 30-40 metres away from his home.
Prashant Chauhan was taken to Apollo Hospital in the neighbour’s car.
DCP Biswal said he died of the bullet injury in the hospital. The body was later sent to the mortuary at All India Institute of Medical Sciences for an autopsy.
“We will write to the concerned authorities to cancel the pistol licence of the teenager’s father, who was away and had negligently kept the loaded weapon in the house,” added Biswal. Prashant Chauhan’s relatives said he had completed a teacher’s training course from an institute in Delhi and was recently employed as a contractual teacher in Shahdara. They said the teenager was a bright student and had secured 96% in his Class 10 exams.
Prashant Chauhan is survived by his parents and brother. His elder brother had died in a road accident four years ago, the relatives said. a record of all living will documents prepared within the state.
The bench comprising justices AK Sikri, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan said that its guidelines shall remain in force till a law is enacted to regulate passive euthanasia. The government has proposed a bill to legalize passive euthanasia, after two law commission reports of 2006 and 2012. The Medical Treatment of Terminally Ill Patients (Protection of Patients and Medical Practitioners) Bill (2016) however, is yet to be tabled before the Parliament. Additional solicitor general PS Narasimha, who represented the government in the case, said that the bill was at initial stage.
“It’s a tentative bill. The process of legislation will take into account the suggestions given by the court.”
The national debate over the legalization of passive euthanasia was sparked by a favourable 2011 Supreme Court judgment in the case of 66-year-old Mumbai nurse Aruna Shanbaug, who was in a permanent vegetative state for more than 40 years after being sexually assaulted.