Madhya Pradesh: Farmer declares dog as the legal heir to half his property

Bhopal: In a bizarre incident, a farmer from Madhya Pradesh named half of his ancestral property in his pet dog's name. Om Narayan Verma, a fifty year old farmer from Madhya Pradesh's Chhindwara district made his eleven month dog "Jackie" the owner of his sprawling lands alongside his wife. 

Verma, who has been a dog lover since his childhood, said that he made this decision after the occurrence of a family dispute when he realized none of his children might take care of Jackie after his death. Notably, Verma has four daughters and a son, but he is only taken care of by his wife Champa Bai and pet dog Jackie. He also revealed that his wife and his dog both live with him and love him. While he informed that he is in good shape as of now, he believes he will definitely be looked after by his wife and Jackie when he gets older or sick. 

As for the property inherited by Jackie and Verma's wife, Verma revealed that it consists of 21 acres of agricultural land.

Reportedly, the news of naming his dog along with his wife as the legal heirs of his property has invited different reactions from people. Verma said that his son was upset with him and even the village sarpanch came by asking him to cancel the will. The sarpanch had said to him that a will like this might not hold any value and would in the long run cause family rifts. However, Verma paid no heed to the advice and notarised his will without any further hopes of cancellation. He added that the issue has been resolved within the family and they have all come to terms with it.  

The prime motive of taking his unapologetic decision however, as Verma says, is the fate of his dog after his death. Fearing that Jackie might be orphaned, Verma decided to leave half his property in his name so that he can live off his property and never have to suffer from any misfortune.

Regarding the dog's future ownership, Verma mentioned that whoever will take care of Jackie after his death will be entitled to his share of property.

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