India, Feb. 25 -- BEED

Prabhavati Solunke, 65, has been indisposed over the last few months; weak with perpetual body ache, she barely emerges from her house built from mud, bamboo and dry leaves, in Massajog village, Beed. Solunke was among 200 women who entered a lake near her village on January 1, to participate in the Jalsamadhi Andolan, demanding justice for the village sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh, who was brutally murdered on December 9, 2024. She had to be hospitalised after the protest, as her blood pressure shot up from standing in the water. But poor health will not keep her down and she is resolved to join the "agitation again in the future if need be".

"I do not care for my life. We have lost our messiah who would stand by us ...