In a rather unfortunately bizarre turn of events, two people lost their lives indirectly due to the hike in the prices of tomatoes. Ashwath (50), a resident of Charakamattenahalli village, Gowribidanur taluk, Chikkaballapur had cultivated tomatoes in his 1-acre land. With prices shooting up to the sky, the farmers in the village found it extremely difficult to save their crops from thieves. In order to safeguard his crop, Ashwath set up an electric fence around his farm.
Unaware of the electric fencing, Vasanth Rao (28), a cowherd from the same village came in contact with it and died by electrocution. By the next day, news of the death spread like wildfire. The angry relatives of Vasanth Rao rushed in search of farm owner Ashwath.
Ashwath, unaware of what had happened was resting on his farm. The angry mob attacked him causing serious injuries. He was rushed to the nearby hospital by villagers but succumbed to death later.
Chikkaballapur SP GK Mithun Kumar mentioned that it is illegal to erect live electric fences around farms. “But, to protect their crops especially tomato several farmers in the district have used electric fences. I have also requested the BESCOM officials to prevent people from erecting electric fences. These fences are known to kill not just people but cattle as well.”
“I can’t think of the incident clearly at the moment. It is a very unfortunate situation. Most of the villagers are farmers. So we all know how difficult it is to not just grow the crop but to safeguard it as well. The voltage in these fences should be low to ward off cattle. But, what do we do about thieves? Nobody wants to kill anyone. This is the very ill-fated situation” said Sheshagiri, a villager.
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