{{Short description|Killing of the elderly in Tamil Nadu, India}} {{about||the 2023 Indian Tamil-language film|Thalaikoothal (film)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}} {{Use Indian English|date=August 2020}} '''Thalaikoothal''' ({{langx|ta|தலைக்கூத்தல்}}, {{lit.|showering}}){{needs-IPA|Tamil|lang=ta}} is the traditional practice of senicide (killing of the elderly) or involuntary euthanasia, by their own family members, observed in some parts of southern districts of Tamil Nadu state of India.
==Methods== Typically, the person is given an extensive oil-bath early in the morning and subsequently made to drink glasses of tender coconut water, which results in kidney failure, high fever, fits, and death within a day or two.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.deccanchronicle.com/chennai/after-thalaikoothal-scare-80-year-old-fights-back-726 |title=After thalaikoothal scare, 80-year-old fights back |date=15 June 2010 |work=Deccan Chronicle |location=Chennai |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101118043848/http://www.deccanchronicle.com/chennai/after-thalaikoothal-scare-80-year-old-fights-back-726 |archive-date=18 November 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.tehelka.com/story_main47.asp?filename=Ne201110Maariyamma.asp|title=Mother, shall I put you to sleep?|volume=7|issue=46|date=20 November 2010|journal=Tehelka|access-date=28 November 2010|archive-date=8 September 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120908025646/http://www.tehelka.com/story_main47.asp?filename=Ne201110Maariyamma.asp|url-status=dead}}</ref> This technique may also involve a head massage with cold water, which might lower body temperature sufficiently to cause heart failure.<ref name="latimes">{{cite news|last= Magnier|first= Mark|url= https://www.latimes.com/world/la-xpm-2013-jan-15-la-fg-india-mercy-killings-20130116-story.html|title= In southern India, relatives sometimes quietly kill their elders|newspaper= Los Angeles Times|date= 15 January 2013|access-date= 16 January 2013|archive-date= 17 January 2013|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130117161659/http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jan/15/world/la-fg-india-mercy-killings-20130116|url-status= live}}</ref> Alternative methods involve force feeding cow's milk while plugging the nose, causing breathing difficulties (the "milk therapy") or use of poisons.<ref name="latimes"/>
==Incidence== Though thalaikoothal is illegal in India,<ref name="hi"/> the practice has long received covert social acceptance as a form of mercy killing, and people rarely complain to the police.<ref name=de/> In some cases, the family informs their relatives before performing thalaikoothal,<ref name=fa/> and occasionally the victims even request it.<ref name="latimes"/> However, social acceptance may lead to more egregious abuses: the issue gained a higher profile in early 2010, when an 80-year-old man escaped after discovering his intended fate and heard his family members discussing how they were going to "share" his lands, and took refuge in a relative's home.<ref name=de/>
Investigation revealed the practice to be "fairly widespread" in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu.<ref name="hi">{{cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/magazine/No-mercy-killing-this/article16578389.ece|title=No mercy killing, this|orig-date=20 March 2010|date=December 15, 2016|newspaper=The Hindu|first1=V.|last1=Suresh|first2=Penny|last2=Vera-Sanso|access-date=16 August 2020|archive-date=23 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023074020/https://www.thehindu.com/features/magazine/No-mercy-killing-this/article16578389.ece|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=de/> Dozens or perhaps hundreds of cases occur annually.<ref name="latimes"/>
==Response== In 2010, after an exposé in Virudhunagar district, the administration set up teams of officers to monitor the senior citizens.<ref name=de>{{cite news|url=http://www.deccanchronicle.com/chennai/%E2%80%98mercy-killing%E2%80%99-tn-villages-787 |title='Mercy killing' in TN villages |date=26 January 2010 |work=Deccan Chronicle |location=Chennai |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101119032810/http://www.deccanchronicle.com/chennai/%E2%80%98mercy-killing%E2%80%99-tn-villages-787 |archive-date=19 November 2010 }}</ref><ref name=fa>{{cite news|url=http://www.deccanchronicle.com/chennai/family-murders-elders-be-probed-801 |title=Family murders of elders to be probed |date=2 February 2010 |work=Deccan Chronicle |location=Chennai |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100206014952/http://www.deccanchronicle.com/chennai/family-murders-elders-be-probed-801 |archive-date=6 February 2010 }}</ref>
==Representation in modern cinema== * ''Marudhu'' (2016) * ''K.D. Engira Karuppudurai'' (2019) * ''Baaram'' (2019) * ''Pani-Fever'' (2019) * ''Thalaikoothal'' (2023)
==See also == * Death by coconut
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [http://palliumindia.org/2010/03/defining-mercy/ Defining Mercy], Pallium India, March 2010 * [http://archive.tehelka.com/story_main47.asp?filename=Ne201110Maariyamma.asp Mother, shall I put you to sleep?], Tehelka
Category:Coconuts in culture Category:Death in India Category:Involuntary euthanasia Category:Old age in India Category:Senicide Category:Tamil culture Category:Tamil society