Sanand sisters end their fast

The six sisters who were on a fast in Sanand to demand justice in an alleged land scam broke their fast at around 8 in the evening on Wednesday.

Despite being weak, one of the sisters pushed herself into the district collector’s office in Ahmedabad to demand justice. The collector promised to look into the matter.

Leelaben and her five sisters started their indefinite fast at the Mamlatdar office in Sanand on September 19-the day chief minister Narendra Modi broke his Sadbhavna fast. The women, who are residents of Hirapur in Sanand, are claiming that one Sagar Patel captured their 2.5 bigha land on the basis of bogus power of attorney.

Gauri Makwana of Sanand Mahila Vikas Sangathan said that after hours of wait, collector Vijay Nehra finally met with Leelaben and told her that he would look into the matter. Makwana further said that the collector has assured that he would discuss the matter with the accused as well.

“The woman (Leelaben) was lying in the waiting chamber of the collector office for four hours yet she didn’t receive a word. The collector spent a long time with a group of builders in his office before calling her,” said Preeti Oza, an activist who works for labour rights. Oza said that the sisters broke their fast at around eight o’clock in the night.