Destitute PhD holder applies for euthanasia with family in WB

Gargi Bandyopadhyay, a resident of Barasat, holds a PhD, has applied for euthanasia with family due to employment and starvation on July 30.

Barasat:It's a travesty of education that a highly qualified woman in her early 50s is without a job and wanted to end her life as well as family's with no other option left for survival. Gargi Bandyopadhyay, a resident of Barasat, holds a PhD, has applied for euthanasia with family due to unemployment and starvation on July 30.

Born in Durgapur Gargi's father Kamal Bandyopadhyay was a steel plant manager and her mother, a primary school teacher. After retirement, her father, Kamal Babu shifted to Barasat from Durgapur.

Gargi holds a PhD in music. Her research subject was in Nature and Human Mind in Rabindranath Sangeet from Rabindra Bharati Vishwa Vidyalaya, Kolkata. She stays with her parents who are in their 80s.

Gargi and her sister Kasturi got married, but later Gargi was separated from her husband and stayed with her parents.

In the course of time, she has applied for jobs as her saving were insufficient for her and parents' survival. She also sought help from local councillors for jobs but all went in vain.

Their condition has deteriorated so much that the entire family have been starving for many days. They have become feeble and their health condition has started deteriorating with every passing day.

One day Shyamal Sarkar, a local resident, saw Kamal Babu begging Rs 10 from a child.

Kamal Babu has a pacemaker in heart, his wife and Gargi's mother is already a kidney patient. They have no money to buy medicines nor food. They just own a small flat near Barasat Satya Bharati School.

Gargi's euthanasia application is referred to Barasat Municipality Chairman Sunil Mukherjee via District Magistrate Chaitali Chakraborty.

When the ETV Bharat correspondent met Chairman Mukherjee and enquired if any help from his office is expected, he said, “Under the rules, Gargi may not be entitled to get any financial allowance, but the old couple may get. We will look into the matter.”