Bagyashree, wife of farmer Kanit Dattatrey Yeole, at Dongarkini village in Beed. (Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty)
A 40-YEAR-OLD small and marginal farmer, who had only two days ago taken part in the Maratha reservation agitation, allegedly committed suicide on Saturday by consuming poison at Beed district in Maharashtra’s Marathwada region. Meanwhile, in Navi Mumbai, a 25-year-old man was found hanging at his home in Turbhe village, with a purported suicide note accusing the government of not providing reservation to the Maratha community.
With these, seven deaths have been reported in the state in the last two weeks in connection with the quota agitation. Kanif Dattatrey Yeole had a small farmland at Dongarkini village in Beed, the epicentre of the recent Maratha protest. According to villagers, Yeole, who also used to work as a sugarcane farmer for six months a year in neighbouring Solapur district, consumed pesticide at his farm on Saturday morning. Police said no suicide note was found.
A police officer said, “It is certain that it is a case of suicide. But the cause is unknown… We are awaiting the forensic reports,” Yeole is survived by his wife Bagyashree, two daughters and a son. While Komal is in college, Kanchan is in Class XII and Hariom in Class X. At Dongarkini, narrow lanes led to Yeole’s modest house. In shock, his wife Bagyashree repeatedly asked one question — “Why did this happen? What will happen to my children?”
“Bagyashree is also a farm labourer. She was working in the neighbourhood when this happened,” said a villager. Dadasaheb Yeole, brother of the deceased, said: “I am at a loss to explain what led to this.”
Even before the body was handed to Yeole’s family members, social media was abuzz with clippings of Yeole attending Maratha agitation rallies. A retired postman, Lahu Chand Yeole, said: “The reservation issue has reached every doorstep. People feel Marathas deserve the same reservation as other groups. Else, bring uniform rules.”
Meanwhile, in the Navi Mumbai incident, the deceased was identified as Arun Bhadale. “He was a Mathadi Kamgaar and lived in a rented apartment along with seven others, mostly colleagues. He hanged himself in the afternoon, when the flatmates were out,” said an officer from APMC police station.
“One of the flatmates found him dead. We have sent the body for postmortem, though prima facie it seems to be suicide.” In the note that the police found, Bhadale claimed he was committing suicide because he wasn’t getting loans. “The note says he was denied loan, which caused financial problems for him. He also accused the government of not giving reservation to Marathas or making policies that would benefit them,” said Sudhakar Pathare, DCP Zone I. “We have registered a case of accidental death,” he added.
Bhadale worked at the Agriculture Produce Market Committee, Pathare said. “He was in a lot of debt, aggravated by his drinking. He had applied for a loan from a private firm to start a business, which was denied,” an officer said.
(With PTI inputs)