101. Thalaikoothal: What is extreme elder abuse?
A 64-year-old man dies while in his sonβs care. Was the ritual that helped to end his life a form of senicide?
In 2010 Pramila Krishnan, a journalist for the Deccan Chronicle, filed a story about a little-known practice called Thalaikoothal. The story was huge in India and lead to the filming of the 2020 Tamil-language film Baaram, which translates as The Burden.
In this episode of Bad People, Sofie Hagen and Dr Julia Shaw discuss senicide, the killing of older adults. At what point is someone βoldβ and how does frailty fit into it? At what age, if any, should we want to die? And how prevalent is elder abuse?
The audio in this episode is from the film Baaram, directed by Priya Krishnaswamy, a Reckless Roses production. Some audio is also from Satyameva Jayate, produced by Aamir Khan Productions.
CREDITS
Presenters: Dr Julia Shaw and Sofie Hagen
Producer: Simona Rata
Assistant Producer: Hannah Ward
Editors: Anna Lacey and Richard Collings
Music: Matt Chandler
Production Coordinator:
Commissioning Executive: Dylan Haskins
Commissioning Assistant Producer: Adam Eland
#BadPeople_ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ
Podcast
-
![]()
Bad People
True crime stories and insights into why people do bad things.
