Rape survivor seeks Indian president’s permission to die by euthanasia

Representational Image via The Statesman/Asia News Network

An Uttar Pradesh woman who says she was raped by her stepson and husband’s friends for months has written to President Draupadi Murmu seeking permission to die by euthanasia.

The 30-year-old said in her letter she had lost all hope of justice in the case.

She said police had deliberately failed to arrest any of the accused despite a report filed at Puranpur Kotwali police station on October 9, and even after court orders.

She added that she was receiving frequent death threats from the accused, warning her to stay silent.

“I have struggled enough and don’t think I will get any justice. So, I want to end my life with your permission,” she wrote in the letter addressed to the president.

The woman said she married a 55-year-old divorced farmer from Chandigarh, three years ago.

She alleges that her stepson approached her in April and she had been sexually assaulted, repeatedly, ever since.

The stepson threatened her with “consequences”, which initially forced her to remain quiet.

She said that when she became pregnant, the accused mercilessly beat her in the stomach when she wanted to go for a DNA test. She was then forced to get an abortion at a private hospital in Puranpur.

The victim said that on July 18, she was taken to a farm belonging to her husband’s friend, where she was raped by one of his relatives and two associates. Her written complaints to local police and senior officials fell on deaf ears.

Left with no choice, she went to a court, which ordered the police to lodge a First Information Report (FIR) on the case.

The FIR was recently registered by Puranpur Kotwali police station, and five men including her husband and stepson were booked under IPC sections 376-D (gang-rape), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult) and 506 (criminal intimidation).

However, no arrests were made.

Superintendent of police, Dinesh Kumar Prabhu, said, “This is a complicated case with layers of facts and evidence. We are holding a fair investigation and it will be completed soon. Thereafter, action will be taken accordingly.”

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