In 1973, while working as a junior nurse at KEM Hospital,Parel (MUMBAI), she was sexually assaulted by a ward boy, and has been in a vegetative state since the assault. On 24 January 2011, after she had been in this status for 37 years, the Supreme cort of india responded to the plea for euthanasia filed by Aruna's friend, by setting up a medical panel to examine her. The court turned down the mercy killing petition on 7 March 2011. However in its landmark judgment, it allowed passive euthanasia in India.