PTI By

MUMBAI: When a 40-year-old debt-ridden farmer in Jalna district of Marathwada region kept 'inviting' people in his village for his 'last rites', little did they know that he wasn't joking.

It was only when the farmer Sheshrao Shejul hanged himself the next day that his family members and other villagers realised the seriousness of his intent. "Sheshrao told me and several others in the village that he would be leaving us and invited all villagers for last rites, but nobody took him seriously," a villager said.

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"The next morning, we found his body hanging from a neem tree," he said. Sheshrao owned two acre land and the soyabean crop he grew failed due to the acute drought in Marathwada region.

To top it all, he had taken Rs 80,000 loan and was worried about how to arrange for his daughter's marriage. The farmer's suicide has prompted Shiv Sena, BJP's ruling ally in the state to take a dig at the Devendra Fadnavis government.

Chief Minister Fadnavis has planned to capitalise on the 'Make in India Week' next month to consolidate FDI gains for Maharashtra. "Did Sheshrao's invitation reach Mantralaya ? If such incidents continue in the state, should we term it Make in Maharashtra," an editorial in Sena mouthpiece Saamana said today.

"Should the suicide of Sheshrao and suicides by thousands of farmers like him be called a product of Make in Maharashtra," the Sena said.