Thrashed for not speaking in Marathi, student dies by suicide; BJP slams Uddhav, Raj for ‘spreading poision’

Amid the ongoing launguage row in Maharashtra, a 19-year-old student form Kalyan committed suicide after he was allegedly thrashed in a local train by a group of people for speaking in Hindi instead of Marathi.

The victim, a first-year science student, hanged himself at his apartment in Kalyan East on Tuesday evening.

Advertisement

The incident has triggered a massive political row with the ruling BJP accusing Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackery and MNS leader Raj Thackery of spreading the poision in the public.

“Uddhav Thackery and Raj Thackery are spreading poison in the public. Language is a medium of communication, not struggle. A Marathi person lost his life. No one will forgive Uddhav and Raj Thackery for this,” Mumbai BJP President Ameet Satam said.

However, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Kishor Pednekar condemned the incident and demanded punishment for accused. “Whatever happened is totally wrong. We condemn this. Those who have assaulted him, no matter if they are Marathi people, should be punished,” Pednekar said.

Meanwhile, the Congress also slammed the BJP-led Maharashtra government over the incident. Party leader Varsha Gaikwad said the “government should focus on jobs, instead of spreading hatred.”

Reacting to the incident, Samajwadi Party leader Abu Azmi demanded the government make a law to deal with “crimes over language”.