What is Santhara, the Jain ritual of 'fast unto death' that claimed life of 3-year-old in MP?

The death of a three-year-old girl with a brain tumour, shortly after her parents made her observe a Jain fasting ritual, in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore has left many shocked. This week, the Golden Book of World Records named Vinaya the ‘youngest person in the world to vow the Jain ritual Santhara’. Notably, Santhara is an ancient Jain practice where a person voluntarily gives up food and water, awaiting death as a means to cleanse the soul and attain spiritual liberation

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