At 94 years old, K. Mahalakshmamma from a village in Andhra Pradesh desires to pass away as an Indian citizen. After living in the United States for nearly two decades, she returned to her hometown a few years ago and gave up her American citizenship. Mahalakshmamma, with severe hearing impairment, recently took an oath to uphold the Indian Constitution before the Bapatla District Collector.
The emotional moment of Mahalakshmamma pledging allegiance to India, with her son’s assistance, has garnered widespread attention on social media. Due to her language barrier, the oath was translated into Telugu for her understanding. Her son read the Telugu version aloud, which she repeated before the District Collector, fulfilling the legal requirements under the Citizenship Act.
Mahalakshmamma submitted an application on June 1 to restore her Indian citizenship and sought assistance from the State Secretariat. Her wish is to spend her final days in her native village and have her last rites performed there. The Collector has forwarded her file to the State Secretariat for further processing by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs for a final decision on her citizenship status.
