Kota (Raj), July 15 -- Five women battling severe kidney complications after caesarean deliveries at Kota's New Medical College Hospital (NMCH) have appealed to President Droupadi Murmu for permission to undergo euthanasia if they are not provided with kidney transplants. The women, who have been dependent on dialysis for over two months, refused further treatment and demanded either a transplant or death.

The families sent a memorandum to the President by speed post on Wednesday after receiving no response to an earlier plea submitted to district authorities seeking kidney transplants.

The five women have undergone 32 rounds of dialysis over the past 68 days. Five other women treated at NMCH and JK Lone Hospital died from complications following caesarean deliveries.

"We cannot watch them suffer like this anymore. If they do not give us a written assurance for kidney transplants within 48 hours, we will stop bringing them for dialysis," said Mohan Lal, whose wife Dhanni Suman has been hospitalised since early May.

The prolonged treatment has pushed several families into financial hardship. Mohan Lal sold his taxi to meet expenses, while Ragini Meena's husband lost his job after leaving work to care for her. Ragini now requires dialysis every 48 hours to survive, according to her brother Vikas.

NMCH Principal Dr Nilesh Jain said all five women were medically stable and fit for discharge for the past 20 days, adding they could continue dialysis as outpatients. He warned that refusing dialysis could lead to life-threatening complications and said kidney transplantation cannot be considered until patients are observed for three to six months before being assessed for end-stage renal disease.

The Rajasthan government has ordered an investigation into the post-delivery complications. It has also banned certain substandard drugs supplied to hospitals, though officials said they were not directly linked to the kidney infections. Similar maternal deaths have also been reported from Bikaner, Bhilwara and Banswara.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.