60-year-old who threatened to burn herself still in shock

Hema Vankar now sits mute in her small house in Dhudhka village of Sami taluka in Patan district. The sexagenarian had threatened to immolate herself in front of the collectorate with two others.

On anyother day, Vankar would be going to her business. Today, she is too stunned to speak. "She is in shock and can't come to terms with seeing Bhanubhai going up in flames," said Mithabhai, a neighbour who has come to visit her.

Vankar, whose three sons work outside Patan and whose three daughters are married, said she had been going to the collector's office for five years now. She had approached Bhanubhai in 2012 for help in getting her land transferred in her name. "We met the officials of revenue department several times. They never said no, but kept on asking us to come later. It seemed like it would never end. That is when we wrote the letter," said Vankar.

Incidentally, Vankar is illiterate and is not sure what was in the letter although she says she did threaten sellf immolation. She, however, admits that she went to the collectorate on the fateful day. "They didn't let us meet the collector. If they had allowed us, this would perhaps have not happened," said Vankar. Though she does not voice it Vankar's children say she cannot get over the fact that a man, who had come to help her, suffered so much on her account. Does she think she will now get the land in her name? That the process will be expedited? Vankar gives a blank stare in reply. Her children say she is now extremely nervous and often does not recognise what is being told to her.