Manisha Gatkal’s family owns one acre land but had given up farming due to continuous drought. A mother of five, she was facing starvation for the past few days
Aurangabad : Unable to bear the pangs of hunger a marginal farmer’s wife set herself afire and is battling for life at civil hospital of Osmanabad with 90 per cent burns.
The victim of starvation has been identified as Manisha Laxman Gatkal (38) and was a resident of village Ambi in Bhoom taluka of Osmanabad district. The incident occurred on the holy day of Raksha Bandhan at her village on Saturday afternoon.
As per details, the Gatkal family was earning livelihood by cultivating one acre of land. But owing to continuous drought they had given up farming and the couple was doing petty jobs and was working as a labourer in their village. They failed to get any job during last few months and was continuously battling against abject poverty. Manisha, mother of four daughters and a son, was able to eat very scanty food. On Saturday her husband got some work and left for the same in the morning. She had prepared only two rotis of jowar as nothing other was left in her kitchen to prepare food of. She gave one jowar roti to her husband and distributed the other roti among her five children. She started feeling pangs of hunger but there was no food for her in the house. She then doused herself with kerosene and set self ablaze when her children were out.
The people residing nearby her house doused her flames and admitted her to the Osmanabad civil hospital where she is battling for life.
Sudhir Dharmadhikari