Husband wants to 'put down' wife

Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Hasan Kesuma is continuing the legal battle to euthanatize his wife, but doctors say the woman is beginning to show signs of recovery.

Agian Isna Naili, 33, a mother of two who has been hospitalized for almost four months, was in the high-care unit at Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital (RSCM) when several reporters visited on Wednesday.

She made a sound when a nurse, Enny, told her she had visitors. "She is asleep now, but she can hear us and she can sense when other people are present."

Enny said Agian sometimes watched TV and "I often see tears on her cheeks .... I wonder if she can understand the news coverage of her husband's attempts to have her euthanized".

"On rare occasions, when she is doing particularly well, she can say a complete word. Once I asked her in Sundanese how she was feeling, and she replied 'fine', also in Sundanese," the nurse said.

While the reporters were visiting his wife on Wednesday, Hasan Kesuma was filing a complaint with the police against Minister of Health Siti Fadilah Supari for failing to honor a pledge to have his wife's hospital bill paid for.

Hasan filed a motion with the Central Jakarta District Court on Oct. 22 seeking an order to euthanatize Agian. In the motion, he said he did not want to watch his wife suffer. Hasan also claimed he could not pay for his wife's medical care.

Hasan also told the court he was unable to look after his children because his wife required constant care.

The court rejected the motion on Nov. 8, citing administrative errors. But the court said Hasan could refile the motion after making some revisions.

RSCM director Merdias Almatsier said Agian's medical bills had already been taken care of, and that she had been cleared by doctors to be transferred from the costly high-care unit to a general care room.

Yusuf Misbach, the head of the eight-strong team of doctors overseeing Agian's treatment, said she had shown some heartening progress.

"All of her internal organs except for her brain are working well. The brain damage only makes it difficult for her to move her muscles. Therefore she has difficulty talking properly, although she can hear and understand what other people say to her," the neurologist said at a media conference.

"We estimate that if she is given proper medical treatment and a lot of love and care from her family, she could start to communicate properly in a year or two ... but she might have to spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair."

Yusuf underlined that Agian was never in a coma, as Hasan claimed in his motion seeking legal approval to euthanatize his wife.

Contacted on Wednesday, Hasan told The Jakarta Post he acknowledged that doctors claimed his wife was conscious.

"I am not a medical expert, but to me she seems to be unconscious. In my opinion there are two states of unconsciousness. The first is a coma and the second is crazy," he said.

Hasan said his wife never responded to him and dismissed statements from nurses and doctors that Agian could respond to questions.

Hasan's lawyer, Iskandar Sitorus, who insisted that Agian had been in a coma for four months, said on Wednesday he would advise Hasan to file an appeal with the Supreme Court.

"I know the doctors say Agian is recovering, but I don't buy that. How can they say she is fine when the only sound she can make is 'eeeeee,'" Sitorus said.