Six residents of Arambagh in West Bengal’s Hooghly district have submitted a suicide petition to President Droupadi Murmu. The petition follows the removal of their names from the state’s electoral rolls after a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. The petition was filed at the Arambagh Sub-Divisional Magistrate’s office, with all necessary documents attached.
Among the petitioners is a retired high school teacher, and all of them are residents of Ward number 6 of Arambagh Municipality. A total of 206 names from that ward were canceled during the SIR process. One of the petitioners, Taibunnesa Begum, who served as a headmistress for 20 years, expressed distress over the removal despite having valid documents like her passport and pension papers.
Taibunnesa Begum and the other petitioners fear being sent to a detention camp due to their exclusion from the voter’s list. They believe that opting for voluntary euthanasia is preferable to facing such a situation. The incident has sparked a political controversy, with the Bharatiya Janata Party accusing the Trinamool Congress of fear-mongering for votes, a claim denied by the latter.
