A Socio-Cultural Inspection on the Killing of Elderly People in Tamil Nadu

Abstract

Killing of terminally-ill elderly persons is a crime in India and in law, it amounts to murder. But there is a social practice by which ill elderly people are murdered by their own family members. Some of the districts in Tamil Nadu, the Southern State of India have this practice for a very long period. This practice is called “thalaikoothal” in tamil language by which elderly persons, often bed-ridden and terminally-ill, are given a ceremonial oil bath followed by tender coconut water in the belief that it would induce pneumonia, leading to eventual death. (The Hindu, 2010). The present paper attempts to analyze the practice of killing elderly people and to investigate the nature, extent and cause of such practice. The research inquiry found that nearly 26 different methods were adopted to kill the elderly persons.