Quite disappointing
Farmer ends life over debt burden in Chhattisgarh; BJP-Cong spar over loan waiver
A 55-year-old farmer allegedly died by suicide at a village in Chhattisgarh’s tribal-dominated Narayanpur district, officials said on Saturday.
His family members and locals claimed he was upset due to debt burden and poor crop yield. Heeru Badhai of Kukdajhor village allegedly consumed pesticide at his farm on December 12 and died at the district hospital in Narayanpur the next day, a police officer said.
No suicide note was found at the spot and a probe is underway after registering an accidental death report, he added.
Yogeshwar Badhai, the deceased’s son, said his family owns around 9 acres and a loan of Rs 1,12,852 was taken from Zila Sahkari Bank (district cooperative bank) for the ongoing kharif season. “We got a notice to clear the loan worth Rs 1.24 lakh (including interest) and my father was worried. Crop production was also not good, which added to his worry,” he said.
“…On the day of the incident, my father was alone at the farm, while we had returned home. When we came to know that he was vomiting, we rushed him to hospital where he died the next day,” Yogeshwar said.
Chhattisgarh Congress chief Deepak Baij claimed the BJP, which won the recent Assembly polls, had promised to waive farm loans of up to Rs 2 lakh but was now backtracking.
Denying any such promise, Narayanpur BJP MLA Kedar Kashyap said: “The man who died by suicide didn’t own land and investigation is underway to ascertain why he took this extreme step,” he said.
PTI – 2023-12-17 01:39