Mumbai: A debt-ridden Solapur farmer, Dhanaji Jadhav (45), committed suicide on Wednesday night, by hanging himself from a tree near his house at Veet village in Karmala tehsil. He left behind a suicide note with specific instructions for his family — ‘Don't cremate me till Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis comes here’. The deceased, who has 2.5 acres of cultivable land, had a debt of around Rs 60,000, according to the police. He was also burdened with loans from private lenders.
The suicide note, which was addressed to his family and friends, said, “I am a farmer, Dhanaji Chandrakant Jadhav. I am committing suicide today. Please take my body to the village and do not cremate me till Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis comes here.” Jadhav is survived by his wife and two children.
According to Solapur collector Rajendra Bhonsale, it was difficult to ascertain whether Jadhav was incited to take this drastic measure of ending his life for a meagre debt amount of Rs 60,000. “We inquired with the State Bank of India, which had loaned him the amount and were told that he had not been pressurised to pay off the amount,” said Mr Bhosale.
According to Mr Bhon-sale, following Jadhav's suicide and the demand in his suicide note, Chief Minister Mr Devendra Fadnavis immediately contacted the guardian minister as well as all authorities and asked them to reach the spot and provide assistance to the family.
“Though the procedure for allotting financial assistance in such cases takes 15 days, we expedited the procedure and handed over a cheque of Rs 1 lakh to the family ten minutes after he was cremated. The CM has also offered financial help to the family from the CM relief fund,” said Mr Bhosale.
Once the news of the suicide broke, many farmers' organisations blocked road traffic and demanded a bandh in Karmala. Mr Bhonsale said he was monitoring the developments in the village and tehsil. A police team had also been rushed to the village to prevent any law and order situation. Solapur's guardian minister Vijay Deshmukh also visited the village on Thursday.
The BJP government headed by Fadnavis has been under pressure from the opposition parties as well as its ally, the Shiv Sena, over the farmers' agitation. In fact, Fadnavis' assurance of a loan waiver by October 31 has failed to pacify the farmers, as in the case of Jadhav.
