US woman becomes first person to end life using ‘suicide pod,’ several arrested

A 64-year-old US woman this week became the first person to end her life using the controversial ‘suicide pod’ in Switzerland. Several people were arrested shortly afterwards on suspicion of inciting, and aiding and abetting suicide, reported BBC.

The American woman, who has not been named, used the portable, 3D-printed chamber called Sarco to end her life on Monday in Switzerland. “Sarco”, short for sarcophagus, is a controversial suicide pod that enables its occupant to kill themselves at a press of a button.

Police said the pod was used on Monday at a woodland retreat in the Merishausen area, which lies near the Swiss-German border. Cops were tipped off about the use of the Sarco by a law firm.

Active euthanasia is banned in Switzerland but assisted dying has been legal for decades. However, it is strictly regulated, and the suicide pod has raised a host of legal and ethical questions.

The pod can be operated using a button on the inside, allowing occupants to end their lives without medical supervision.

“Peaceful, dignified”

The Last Resort organisation, an assisted dying group, presented the Sarco pod in Zurich in July, saying they expected it to be used for the first time within months, and saw no legal obstacle to its use in Switzerland.

In a statement to AFP, The Last Resort said the person who died was a 64-year-old woman, who was not named, from the midwestern United States.

She "had been suffering for many years from a number of serious problems associated with severe immune compromise", the statement said. "The death took place in open air, under a canopy of trees, at a private forest retreat,” the statement added, describing her death as “peaceful, fast and dignified.”

Police have "opened criminal proceedings against several people for inducement and aiding and abetting suicide... and several people have been placed in police custody," a police statement said.

(With inputs from AFP)