13-Year Old Dies After Religious Fast: Tradition Or Torture?

Aradhna Samdhariya was just like any other 13-year-old. She came from a well-to-do family, lived in Hyderabad and went to a good school. Except that last week, days after she broke a 68 day-long religious fast, Aradhana died. As part of a ritual observed by Jain religion, the teen was living only on water for over two months. Shockingly after her death, her family held a procession, glorifying what happened. For them, Aradhana's fast was a moment of pride, the parents have been booked for culpable homicide. The story has raised disturbing questions - on how children come under pressure in the name of religious rituals - about the responsibility of parents and the state. When Aradhana completed her 68 day fast a minister and an MP came to congratulate her. Did anyone intervene to ask why this 13-year-old was starving? Where was her school? Where were the institutions that have been set up to protect children?