Updated: November 30, 2020 6:15:49 pm
Baba Amte with his wife Sadhanatai, his son Dr. Prakash Amte and his daughter-in-law Mandakini. (Express file photo of Shekhar Soni)
Days after a dispute between members of the late social activist Baba Amte came to light, his granddaughter Sheetal Amte-Karajgi died in a hospital in the Chandrapur district of Maharashtra. Police are investigating whether the death was by suicide.
Inspector Deepak Khobragade from Warora Police Station in Chandrapur district told The Indian Express: “He died around 1 pm in a district hospital in Chandrapur. They took her there urgently due to her deteriorating health. “
On reports of Sheetal taking his own life, Khobragade said: “I cannot confirm that.”
The Indian Express reported Saturday that Sheetal had serious differences with his older brother Kaustubh, against whom he had reported wrongdoing in the past. Kaustubh resigned from the Amtes-run charity trust five years ago following the allegations. He also left Anandwan, a leper asylum created by Baba Amte.
However, elders in the family, including Sheetal’s father, Vikas, and uncle Prakash Amte, tried to reintegrate Kaustubh into the trust.
But Sheetal and her husband Gautam Karajgi vehemently opposed the decision. He even shared a video on Facebook in which he brought various accusations against Prakash Amte and his son Aniket, along with a few others. The post was later removed.
After Kaustubh’s resignation, he also removed some of Anandwan’s veterans, sparking accusations of running the organization in a “corporate and authoritarian style.” Sheetal previously responded to the allegations, saying the organization needs to change the ways it operates to survive and that instilling those changes was called corporatization. She also refuted all the accusations of her overbearing administration in Anandwan together with her husband.
His father Vikas, his mother Bharti, his uncle Prakash and his aunt Mandakini had issued a statement last week acknowledging his contribution to Anandwan, but they dismissed his accusations. They claimed that she was mentally stressed and was going through depression.
On Sunday, Sheetal had sent a WhatsApp message to this reporter saying “problem solved.” When contacted by phone, she said, “It has been decided that Kaustubh would return to the trust and take over the Somnath project. I do not have any problem with that.”
Later, Prakash Amte also confirmed the development. He had said: “A resolution to include Kaustubh was approved at a virtual meeting of the trust on October 29. Sheetal and her husband Gautum objected then, but it was approved by a majority vote. Today (Sunday), they both accepted the inclusion of Kaustubh in the trust. “
Prakash, who runs the Hemalkasa project for the remote Gadchiroli tribes, said he was shocked to learn of Sheetal’s death. “We are all shocked. Yesterday only she and her husband had accepted Kaustubh’s proposal. On Monday morning Gautam also spoke to me and thanked me for finding the solution. We don’t know what happened suddenly a couple of hours after that, ”he said.
© The Indian Express (P) Ltd
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