Gyanvapi case petitioner seeks permission for euthanasia

In a shocking development, Rakhi Singh, the main petitioner seeking the right to daily worship inside the Gyanvapi Masjid in Varanasi, has written to President Draupadi Murmu, alleging that her fellow four petitioners in the case and their lawyers spread false propaganda against her, and she is "considering euthanasia" due to mental pressure.

Singh, along with four other 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.

The case is currently being heard in the Varanasi district court.

"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," Rakhi Singh alleged in the letter.

She alleged that they spread a rumour that she was withdrawing the case, while "neither any such statement nor information was issued from my side nor my uncle Jitendra Singh Visen, pleader on my behalf in said case, issued any such information."

"Thus, the entire Hindu society has been raised against me and my family by creating 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 wrote.

"Therefore, you are requested to grant me 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.

This is the second time that Singh has publicly aired differences with the other plaintiffs. In September 2022, she opposed a petition for carbon dating of a disputed structure inside the Gyanvapi mosque. The Hindu side claims it is a Shivling while the Muslim side says it is part of an ablution tank.

Senior advocate Harishankar Jain, who represents the four Hindu women plaintiffs, dismissed 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.

One of the Hindu women petitioners, Rekha Pathak, said, "We are contesting the case consistently. We pray that we get the desired results. Our total focus is on our case. The allegations by Rakhi Singh are false."

On May 23, the Varanasi district court ordered that all seven cases of the same nature related to the Shringar Gauri-Gyanvapi case be consolidated and heard together, with the Shringar Gauri-Gyanvapi case as the leading case.

On June 4, Visen announced that he and his family were separating themselves from all cases related to the Gyanvapi complex in Varanasi, citing "lack of resources" and alleged "harassment" from various quarters.