14kg lighter, Sikkim farmer withdraws fast

Yong Tshering Lepcha, a farmer, lost 14 kg during fasting for a week in support of Anna Hazare at the Fish Pond area here opposite Paljor Stadium. He ended his hunger strike today after which he marched to MG Marg in the heart of the capital and garlanded the bust of Mahatma Gandhi.Lepcha, who weighed 84kg, began the hunger strike on August 20 and saw his body weight drop most drastically in the first three days when he did not even take water. By the third day he had lost 12 kilos. Since then, he has lost two more kilos and now weighs 70kg.Speaking to PTI today, Lepcha said that doctors from STNM Hospital checked on him twice everyday. As per the doctors, his blood pressure was normal but the ketone level in his blood had increased.“Doctors told me that if some complications were detected they would take me to the hospital but I requested them to treat me here itself. I did not want to go to the hospital because that would affect my hunger strike,” he said.When asked about the people’s response here to his expression of support for Anna Hazare, Lepcha expressed his happiness on having received encouragement and support from all over the state with many people visiting him and contacting him over the phone with words of encouragement and support."Truth has prevailed over evil and this is how people like Anna Hazare have inspired even a farmer like me. He has touched lakhs of people and I am just one of them, my contribution is just mere. I could have died for the cause."