Indian Man Sues Parents for Giving Birth to Him ‘Without His Consent’

A 27-year-old Indian man is planning to sue his parents for giving birth to him without his proper consent in what is now being regarded as a rather bizarre case.

Raphael Samuel, who describes himself as a member of the “antinatalist” movement, claims he is engaging the lawsuit to help people in India – and the world – to realize that they are born into this world without their consent.

“I want them to understand that they do not owe their parents anything. If we are born without our consent, then we should be maintained for the rest of our life. We should be paid to live,” he said in his YouTube video entitled “WHY am I suing my parents?”

Later in the video, he told children that they should only do what their parents tell them to do if they genuinely feel it.

“To children, I would like to say: do not do anything for your parents if you do not want to. If you want to, if you truly genuinely feel like doing it, do it,” he said.

In one of his Facebook posts, Samuel went on to compare procreation to “kidnapping” and even went as far as to call it “slavery.”

With his philosophy, some couldn’t help but wonder about his relationship with his parents. But it turns out that Samuel has a strong relationship with them. He said, according to AsiaOne:

“I love my parents, and we have a great relationship, but they had me for their joy and their pleasure. My life has been amazing, but I don’t see why I should put another life through the rigamarole of school and finding a career, especially when they didn’t ask to exist.”

His mother, Kavita Karnad Samuel, finally responded to the controversial posts he made, expressing how she admires Raphael’s “temerity” especially with the fact that both of his parents are lawyers.

“If Raphael could come up with a rational explanation as to how we could have sought his consent to be born, I will accept my fault,” she said.

Kavita also defended Raphael’s philosophy by saying:

“The media has focussed on a sliver of what Raphael believes in. His belief in anti natalism, his concern for the burden on Earth’s resources due to needless life, his sensitivity toward the pain experienced unwittingly by children while growing up and so much more has been ruefully forgotten.”

“I’m very happy that my son has grown up into a fearless, independent thinking young man. He is sure to find his path to happiness.”

Antinatalism is based on the belief that people should refrain from having children because it is morally bad. They also believe that the world would be a better place with fewer children, Times of India reported.

China’s One-Child Policy is a result of antinatalistic philosophy, said in the report; however, the country has removed this policy to counter the massive decline in childbirth the country saw in recent statistics.

Netizens expressed their outrage in his Facebook account by leaving messages calling out his plan to sue his parents. One Facebook user even countered his flawed excuse for the lawsuit.

“By default then, if you didn’t ask to be conceived, then the parents have the right to remedy that issue. they could also sue YOU for not expressly stating your desires prior to birth that you did not wish to be born. Since you failed to communicate your desires, you waived all claims to being forced into conception,” a user wrote.

Featured image screenshot via YouTube / Nihil Anand

Share this Article