BBC BROADCASTER ARRESTED OVER MERCY-KILLING

BBC TV PRESENTER RAY GOSLING ARRESTED
ON SUSPICION OF MERCY KILLING OF LOVER

LONDON (Reuters) - The broadcaster Ray Gosling, who confessed in a television programme to the mercy killing of a lover, was released on police bail today after being questioned for a day and a half on suspicion of murder, his lawyer said. Yesterday, Police had arrested a BBC broadcaster Ray Gosling on suspicion of murder after the 70-year-old confessed on television to killing a gay former lover who was in the advanced stages of AIDS. He was arrested after he told viewers of the BBC's Inside Out program that he had used a pillow to suffocate an unidentified young man who he claimed was dying in hospital. He said he had agreed to smother the man, who had AIDS, if his suffering became too intense. Gosling said his friend had been in hospital in “terrible pain” when a doctor told him nothing more could be done. He said he asked the doctor to leave them alone and then “I picked up the pillow and smothered him until he was dead.” "The doctor came back and I said: 'He's gone.' Nothing more was ever said. "When you love someone, it is difficult to see them suffer." In a BBC radio interview, the broadcaster had said he was not worried by the prospect of a police investigation. “I don't do worry,” he said. “I did what I did from my heart.” He said the incident happened in “the early period of AIDS”. He had come to an agreement with the man, who he described as “my bit on the side”, that Gosling would end his life if the pain became too much. Gosling yesterday said he would refuse to divulge details of the victim and when and where the killing took place. He said that keeping his silence was part of the “pact” he had with the victim. He also claimed he had the tacit consent of a doctor.

Gosling said he had met other people who were facing a similar dilemma. Dozens of terminally ill Britons have travelled to the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland, where assisted suicide is legal, and killed themselves with the help of friends or family members. In Britain, assisted suicide is still a criminal offence, and those opposed to give seriously ill people the right to die legally, say changing the law could leave very sick people vulnerable to exploitation by unscrupulous relatives.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

The dilemma surrounding euthanasia has much to do with misunderstanding the purpose of human life, a misperception that causes many to feel either that human life should be preserved at all costs or that it is merciful to end the lives of those who can no longer enjoy materially. However, when we realize that human life is not intended for the pursuit of temporal enjoyment and conduct ourselves accordingly, all concerned will be better prepared for death. ... Euthanasia (from the Greek) means a “good death”. What is a good death? Scripture says that in spite of circumstances, if at the time of death one remembers God, then one’s life and death are successful: “ante nārāyana-smriti”.

Śrīla Bhakti Vedanta Tripurari Mahārāja :
“Death and Dharma” - Śrī Caitanya Sanga - Vol. X, No. 9 - 2008
“Dynamic Orthodoxy” - Śrī Caitanya Sanga - Vol. XI, No. 3 - 2009
http://www.swami.org/pages/sanga/