thalaikoothal

Thalaikoothal (, ) is the traditional practice of senicide (killing of the elderly) or involuntary euthanasia, by their own family members, observed in some parts of southern districts of Tamil Nadu state of India.

==Methods== Typically, the person is given an extensive oil-bath early in the morning and subsequently made to drink glasses of tender coconut water, which results in kidney failure, high fever, fits, and death within a day or two. This technique may also involve a head massage with cold water, which might lower body temperature sufficiently to cause heart failure. Alternative methods involve force feeding cow's milk while plugging the nose, causing breathing difficulties (the "milk therapy") or use of poisons.