Nanded farmer who had poison dies in city hospital

A 27-year-old farmer from Janpuri post, Nanded, who attempted suicide in front of Mantralaya in Mumbai by consuming poison (pesticides) three days ago, breathed his last on Saturday. In his statement given to the police before his death, the farmer said that he was frustrated as he was paid an amount lower than that allotted by the government and when he went to ask the district officer, he was humiliated and thrown out of the office.

The incident took place on March 23 after farmer Madhav Kadav, allegedly humiliated by the district officer the previous day, decided to approach senior ministers for help. He had brought poison with him.

The incident occurred at around 10 am in front of Mantralaya building. The police at Mantralaya said he asked about some officials. But, when Kadam did not get satisfactory answers from the security guards posted at Mantralaya gate, he consumed poison outside the gate.

According to the police, he stood in front of the building gate after consuming poison, but bystanders realised it only after he started vomiting. Security officials immediately called the police and he was admitted to GT Hospital at CST after the incident.

Sources said that on Thursday evening two police officers from the Marine Drive police station went to GT Hospital to record Kadam’s statement. The doctor told them that he was stable and allowed them to record the farmer’s statement. He told the police in his statement that he hailed from Loha taluka of Nanded. Kadam lost his father a few years ago and since then he and his brother were involved in farming. Before his father’s death, Kadam had plans to start his own small-scale business, but he had to drop the plan due to immediate family responsibilities.

“Kadam said that last year he had suffered heavy losses because of deficient rain. The government had announced a scheme in which drought affected farmers were supposed to get aid of '6,800 per hectare. However, he received only '4,400. When he went to ask the district officer about the same, he was not given satisfactory answers and was humiliated. Thereafter, he decided to meet seniors in Mantralaya, but consumed poison outside the administrative office. He was declared dead on Saturday at around 3.30 am,” a police officer said.

The police has registered a case of accidental death. “Post-mortem of Kadam’s body was done and later his body was sent to Nanded. His brother came to Mumbai to take his body. They didn’t know about Madhav’s plan to end his life. We will consider filing an FIR if the family considers filing a case. Some of his body samples have been sent to the forensic laboratory for tests.”

Maruti Puyad, 30, a relative of Kadam said, “We didn’t even know about his plan, otherwise we would have stopped him. We are already facing several problems and struggling to survive in these conditions.”