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Journalism of Courage
“Why would I lie about my father’s death? He was at the mandi for more than three days, waiting for his turn’’, said Jagdish, whose father Moolchand Meena died at Lateri mandi before he could sell his produce of chana to the government. The 65-year-old farmer, who owned 15 bighas of land, had brought 25 quintals of chana to the mandi. He collapsed on the morning of May 17.
While his two sons and other farmers allege that Moolchand had been waiting for three days and could not endure the heat and exhaustion, the district administration and mandi officials have claimed that he came there only the day before and died of a heart attack. Mandi inspector Premsingh Dangi said the farmer’s son had been sent an SMS, asking him to visit the mandi on May 12. But, Moolchand and his sons Jagdish and Narmadaprasad came on May 16 and the death took place the next day, they said.
“What proof do they want? Other farmers present there will vouch for my father’s presence,’’ said Jagdish. “If we had bribed someone, the produce could have been sold earlier,’’ he said. Subdivisional magistrate A K Manzi said the farmer had died of a heart attack.
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