On November 27, 1973 Aruna Shanbaug was a nurse at KEM hospital in Mumbai when a sweeper, Sohanlal Walmiki wrapped a dog chain round her neck rendering her unconscious and sodomised her as he was unable to rape her because she was menstruating. Deprived of oxygen her brain suffered irreversible damage and she has lain in a vegetative state ever since looked after by the staff of the hospital. A writer Pinky Virani, who first wrote about her, applied to the courts that she be allowed to die by withholding her food and fluids. The Supreme Court denied the request yesterday as Ms Shanbaug is not brain dead. The sweeper who reduced her to this state served a mere 7 years in prison. This case typifies all that is rotten in India's justice system that a sub human beast is free to enjoy life while we debate whether it would be best to kill this unfortunate lady. The police are thugs in uniform, brutal, unhelpful, totally incompetent, ready to carry out any act of brutality demanded by superior officers and politicians. Lawyers are mostly criminals, ready to sell out their clients for money. Judges are dripping with the milk of human kindness but only for criminals with no regard about the suffering of victims. Take Rathore. He molests a teenage girl, is promoted in spite of his crime, uses his position as police chief to arrest the brother on a succession of false charges, instructs officers under him to beat up the innocent boy, hounds the family until Ruchika commits suicide, is defended by his lawyer wife and is out of jail after a derisory 6 months. Maybe Ms Shanbaug's suffering will shame us into improving the justice system. Or maybe not.