Barmer: Elderly man dies post 18-day voluntary fast

Barmer: A 83-years-old man died here after voluntarily fasting for around eighteen days. Locals said that he was following a religious ritual called ‘Santhara’. In Jain community ‘Santhara’, is a religious practice of voluntarily fasting to death by gradually reducing the intake of food and liquids. Whenever anybody takes Santhara he is glorified, lauded and honoured at community meetings by the religious elders.

In Barmer, the man who took ‘Santhara’ was Pukhraj Sankhalecha, a resident of Jasol town in Barmer. He died early Saturday morning.

Not only had this, Pukhraj Sankhalecha’s wife Gulabi Devi also announced to take Santhara and she has been fasting since January 6. Locals said that it is for the first time when this couple is jointly taking Santhara.

According to the information on December 7, Pukhraj Sankhalecha had undergone a heart problem. Soon after getting discharged from hospital on December 16, Sankhalecha decided to take Santhara.