Elderly Jain Man Announces Fast Until Death Over Family Wealth Dispute, Blames Community For Inaction

An elderly Jain man has announced to sit on an indefinite hunger strike against his community after it failed to solve a property dispute among his family. The Dadar-resident alleged that his brothers have wrongfully usurped the ancestral property, which he has been demanding to be resolved at the community level but the community has failed to do so.

A handwritten letter, which has went viral in the social media groups of the Jain community, has created a buzz among the community members. According to the letter, Harakhchand Dedhia (60) has announced that he will be going on a fast until death against his community Vagad Visha Oswal Jain Sangh from Saturday for failing to solve his family’s property dispute. He claimed that he will not consume food or water until the community interferes into the matter and gets him his share of ancestral wealth. 

Through the letter, the senior citizen has alleged that he has been excluded from the fair share of his parents’ wealth, including flats, land parcels, cash and jewellery, by his brothers and their families. Dedhia alleged that his brothers had wrongfully made a will from their father to oust him from the family’s property and have also filed a fake case against him to put him in legal trouble.

The Free Press Journal contacted Dedhia, who accepted that he has announced a hunger strike and wrote the letter, which has been marked to more than 30 people including office bearers of the community, local police and political leaders. Through the letter, Dedhia alleged that his brothers have also usurped his wife’s gold and diamond jewellery and have divided the rest of the ancestral wealth into three parts, keeping Dedhia out.

“Not only my ancestral property but my hard-earned money which I had given to my father, has been withheld by my brothers. I don’t even have money to feed my family or even for their medical expenses and therefore it is obvious that I cannot pursue this matter legally. I have requested our community multiple times to help me resolve this matter but all in vain,” Dedhia told The Free Press Journal.

Nagji Rita, president of Mumbai Vagad Visha Oswal community, refuted the allegations claiming that the community had tried to resolve the matter in the past but both parties did not cooperate. “Firstly, it’s a family matter between brothers and the community has been unnecessarily drawn into it. While Dedhia claims that he has not been given his share, his brothers have claimed that they have already paid him his share which he has exhausted. We also advised them to resolve this matter through the family’s close relatives but they are not ready to cooperate,” he said.

The letter has sparked a buzz in the community and the community members have been discussing this matter behind closed doors. “The community members don’t know whether Dedhia is right or his brothers but they unanimously believe that the community needs to interfere aggressively in the matter to resolve it as soon as possible. This will save both sides of the family from exhausting their money in potential legal battles in the future,” said a member of the community on condition of anonymity.