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Maharashtra woman farmer commits suicide in drought-hit Marathawada

by IBNS 07 Sep 2015, 11:04 am

Mumbai, Sept 7 (IBNS) Adding to the series of tragedies involving the peasantry in the drought-hit regions of Maharashtra, a 40-year-old woman in Marathawada has committed suicide after being left with nothing to feed her five children, media reports said.

Manisha Gatkal, a farmer in Marathwada's Osmanabad district, doused herself with kerosene and set herself ablaze last Saturday, the day of Rakshbandhan, in her own house at Ambi village..

Her family claims she had no source of livelihood, nor was there even a morsel left in the household to eat. .

"We are really very poor. There was no food. I had no work... When I got some work I went out. She latched the door and killed herself," said Ms Gatkal's husband Laxman told NDTV.

Villagers claim the situation is acute as there is just no work even under employment guarantee schemes.

Marathwada has witnessed back to back droughts over the last three years. The region recorded  574 farmer suicides in 2014. Altogether 628 farmers have killed themselves so far in 2015.