The death of Anna Chanappa Hulgunde has not been in vain.
On Wednesday, contractor Mahendra Lalan who owed the Hulgundes Rs 475,000 paid Rs 300,000. The Thane district administration also promised Rs 200,000 to the family from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund.
Anna's wife, his brothers Raju Chanappa and Vithal Chanappa, broke the fast by drinking a glass of lime juice from the hands of Resident Deputy Collector Bharat Shitole.
Anna and his family resorted to the extreme measure of fast-unto-death when Ankit Corporation, owned by Mahendra Lalan and his son, refused to pay the Hulgundes money for arranging 190 workers for constructing three petrol pumps in the Wada taluka of Thane district.
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From May 31 onwards, except for water, Hulgunde's family ingested little. On June 28 Anna died. After Anna's death the Thane administration scrambled into action arresting Mahendra and son Ankit for abetment to suicide under section 306 of the Indian Penal Code.
On Wednesday, Mahendra Lalan's family visited the Hulgundes on the prompting of the district administration to work out an agreement. The family agreed to end their hunger strike on part payment of Rs 300,000.
The Hulgundes have now left for their native Parsi village in Latur district.
Before going on the fast-unto-death near the collector's office in Thane, the Hulgundes had gone on a hunger strike thrice -- in Wada, Shahpur and Jawahar. But nothing came out of that.
On Tuesday, authorities tried to put a lid on the controversy claiming that Anna's death was due to Tuberculosis and not due to the starvation.
"If someone is a TB patient and he is not having food, his resistance power will drastically come down. Fasting affects the health of TB patient badly," Dr B M Baviskar of the Thane Civil Hospital told rediff.com
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