Aruna Shanbaug now stable but continues to be in ICU

Five days after she was admitted to the medical intensive care unit of the municipality-run KEM Hospital in Parel, 65-year-old Aruna Shanbaug continues to remain in the intensive care unit on Tuesday.

Last Friday, doctors who had been monitoring her condition, observed that Shanbaug, a former staff nurse at the hospital, was not responding while being given food.

“She had turned drowsy and, therefore, we shifted her to the intensive care unit. She is still being kept on intravenous fluids. She has contracted pneumonia and is being given good treatment,” said Dr Shubhangi Parkar, acting dean of KEM Hospital.

Shanbaug had been assaulted by a ward boy who worked at the same hospital, Sohanlal Walmiki, with a dog chain, while she was on duty. This tragic incident took place  39 years ago.

Since then, Shanbaug has been in a ‘near vegetative’ state. She has been confined to a closed room on the ground floor of the hospital.  Since then, her condition has neither deteriorated nor improved.