Narayan and Iravati Lavate wish to end their lives on their own terms

Inside the small apartment is a pile of books - on forensic medicine, the Right to Information, a copy of the Constitution of India, the Law of Affidavits and Supreme Court rules

For the elderly occupants of Room 10 in Laxmibai Chawl, the humdrum routine of life has been interrupted by media visits over the past fortnight. By now, even the shopkeepers have got the cue, guiding folks through the narrow bylanes of Thakurwad in South Mumbai. When Narayan Lavate, 87, and his wife Iravati, 78, wrote to President Ram Nath Kovind on December 21, 2017, seeking “mercy death” or physician-assisted suicide, they didn’t anticipate this kind of response. 

The Lavates have been campaigning for a citizen’s right to death since 1987. “We have legislation allowing abortion on medical grounds. Why shy