A man from Jalna allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself from a flyover in Mumbai's Bandra Kurla Complex to press for Maratha community reservations on Thursday, activists and police said, as reported by the news agency IANS. The man has been identified as Sunil Baburao Kawle. According to an activist, Kawle, 35, hails from Ambad village in Jalna, close to the place from which Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil also hails.
Following the incident, a police team rushed to the spo. The team recovered a mobile, and a purported suicide note from his belongings in which he has sought forgiveness from all for the decision to end his life, as reported by IANS.
According to the preliminary information, Kawle arrived here from Jalna, via Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar late on Tuesday and last night he went to a location on the flyover in Bandra east and hanged himself. Maratha Kranti Morcha Convenors Virendra Pawar and Vinod Patil expressed grief over the incident and have appealed to the community folks “not to get disheartened and resort to such extreme measures like suicide, leaving the reservations battle half-way”.
“It’s a very sad development. We have sent our activists to the spot to inquire and also collect details of his family members in Jalna. We are trying to ascertain what work he was doing and the reasons that may have provoked him to end his life,” Pawar said, as quoted by IANS.
Kawle’s body has been sent to Sion Hospital for an autopsy while his family members, who were informed of the tragedy, are coming to Mumbat later in the day.
Activist Manoj Jarange has brought back the Maratha quota issue to the centre stage in Maharashtra. Jarange, 40, was earlier on a hunger strike in Jalna district over his demand for reservation for the Maratha community under the OBC category. He ended his fast on September 14 on the 17th day after Chief Minister Eknath Shinde met him and assured to fulfil his demand. The activist has set a 40-day deadline before the Shinde government for taking steps to implement reservation for the Maratha community.