KOLKATA: Six voters in West Bengal, including a retired headmistress of a state government-aided school, whose names do not appear in the electoral rolls after the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), have appealed to President Droupadi Murmu seeking euthanasia.
They fear being sent to detention camps in the future after losing their voting rights ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections in the state.
The applicants are residents of Ward No. 6 in the Arambag Municipality area of Hooghly district. Around 206 names, including that of retired headmistress Taibunessa Begum—who served at Goghat Bhagabati Girls’ School for 20 years—have been removed from the electoral rolls. Her husband is the principal of Arambag Girls’ College.
On Monday, they visited the office of the Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) in Arambag and submitted their appeals, requesting that they be forwarded to the President.
"I have served the Goghat Bhagabati Girls’ School as a headmistress in my 34 years’ teaching life in state government-aided schools. I have submitted all relevant documents, including my pension-related papers, passport and many others to the Election Commission of India (ECI) during the exercise. Despite that, my name has been removed from the voter list. It’s a sheer humiliation at the end of life. It is meaningless to stay alive with unbearable harassment triggered by the SIR," Begum said.
"I came here to submit my appeal to the SDO so that it can be forwarded to the hon’ble President," she said.
Five other victims also said, "We fear that we will be sent to the detention camp. We have lost our identity as eligible voters despite our born in the independent country.”