Gyanvapi Case Hindu Petitioner Writes to President Seeking Euthanasia, Cites 'Mental Pressure'

Rakhi Singh, the petitioner in the Gyanvapi Mosque case, has written to the President of India that she is "considering euthanasia" due to mental pressure as her fellow four women petitioners in the case and their lawyers are spreading false propaganda against her.

The five Hindu women petitioners had filed the case in the court of the civil judge (senior division), Varanasi in August 2021, seeking the right to daily worship at Maa Shringar Gauri Sthal inside the Gyanvapi mosque complex.

"In the case, my associates, including Lakshmi Devi, Sita Sahu, Manju Vyas, Rekha Pathak, along with (senior) advocate Harishankar Jain, his son advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain and their few colleagues, did a false propaganda and defamed me and my uncle and aunt Jitendra Singh Visen and Kiran Singh in May 2022," IANS quoted Rakhi Singh as saying in the letter to the President.

Rakhi Singh has claimed that they spread rumours that she was withdrawing the case, while "neither any such statement or information was issued from my side nor my uncle Jitendra Singh Visen, pleader on my behalf in the said case, issued any such information."

"Thus, the entire Hindu society has been raised against me and my family by creating a confusion about us in the entire country due to which I and the entire family of Visenji have come under a lot of mental pressure," she said in the letter.

Singh has said that would wait for the President's response till 9 am on June 9 (Friday) after which she would take her own decision.

"Therefore, you are requested to grant me the permission of euthanasia and pave the way to get rid of this immense mental pain and agony so that I can attain ultimate peace by sleeping eternally. I will wait for your reply till 9th June 2023 at 9:00 am," the letter said.

"If no order comes from you, then whatever decision will be taken after that will be my own," she concluded.

It has to be noted that this is the second time that differences have cropped up between the petitioners. Rakhi Singh had opposed a petition for carbon dating of a disputed structure found inside the Gyanvapi mosque in September 2022.

However, senior advocate Harishankar Jain, who represents four Hindu women plaintiffs, rubbished the allegations. "We are contesting the Shringar Gauri-Gyanvapi and other related cases with full dedication. All allegations are baseless. I do not want to waste my energy and time by reacting to baseless allegations," he said.

The petition was filed by five women seeking permission for daily worship of Hindu deities whose idols are said to be located on an outer wall of the Gyanvapi mosque, which is located close to Kashi Vishwanath temple.

According to the five women, the current premises of the mosque were once a Hindu temple, which was demolished by the Mughal Ruler Aurangzeb. Subsequently, the present mosque structure was constructed in its place.