MANDYA: Despite the state government announcing a Rs 43,000-crore farm loan waiver and bringing in an ordinance to curb fleecing by private moneylenders, there seems to be no end to the woes of farmers. Burdened by huge loans and with no relief in sight, a farmer, along with his wife and two children, committed suicide on the outskirts of Sunkathonnur in Pandavapura taluk on Saturday.
The family had availed loans of up to Rs 20 lakh from a private moneylender, cooperative banks, SHGs and other sources. The victims are Nandish (37), Komala (30) and their children Chandana (12) and Manoj (8).Nandish’s last-ditch effort to extricate himself from the debt burden by seeking help from CM H D Kumaraswamy at a recent Janata Darshan proved detrimental as the moneylender allegedly turned more aggressive to recover his loan fearing that any delay could see intervention from the police in favour of Nandish. Nandish had also shared his agony with District Minister C S Puttaraju.
On Friday night, Nandish reportedly bought chicken kabab and laced it with poison and consumed it along with his family. The incident came to light on Saturday morning when villagers noticed the bodies outside the house.
In a death note left behind — addressed to Kumaraswamy — Nandish mentioned about his family’s financial woes and also said that no one was responsible for him taking the extreme step. Nandish also said that he had brought the issue to the notice of the CM during a Janata Darsha, police said. Doctors, who conducted the post-mortem, confirmed that the family had consumed poison. Blood samples will be sent to a forensic lab.
Nandish owned 2.5 acres of land. He had taken `10 lakh as loan and sunk six borewells, but they failed to yield water. The seventh borewell, however, yielded water and he was able to grow vegetables and take up sericulture. He also bought two milching cows for `1.6 lakh, but they died recently. Nandish was the only son of Kempegowda and Kamalamma, who are battling ill-health. Two of Nandish’s sisters are married and one, who is physically challenged, stays with the elderly couple at Sunkathonnur. Meanwhile, Cooperation Minister Bandeppa Kashempur urged farmers not to lose courage and said the government was with them.
Dry spell adds to monsoon woes in Sunkathonnur
Mandya: The villagers of Sunkathonur woke up to the “shocking” news as Nandish was known as someone who kept a low profile and lived a humble life. He worked in his fields, a short distance from his native village. The family is said to have taken the extreme step after the failure of a borewell. A crash in vegetable and cocoon prices, and not having milch cows, only added to their difficulties. The end result was that the man realised that he would not be able to repay a loan he had taken from Cauvery Grammena Bank. He had also borrowed money from self-help groups and from a few friends and relatives. An acre of land awaited registration formalities, according to a family source. In his death note, Nandish had requested that nobody touch his body and instead people should let the municipality do the last rites. “This was because he rued that no one came to his aid when he was in financial difficulty. This revealed the gravity of the situation and seriousness of the problems he faced,” he said. This also shows anger and anguish of farmers hit by crop loss because of drought. The villagers have accused elected representatives of doing nothing for the likes of Nandish.
BSY blames HDK
Bengaluru: BJP state chief B S Yeddyurappa has termed H D Kumaraswamy’s claims on farm loan waiver “a farce” and blamed the CM for the suicide of a farmer’s family. Yeddyurappa said here on Saturday that when farmers are dying, Kumaraswamy is roaming around the state visiting temples and attacking BJP to cover up his failures.
Protest on highway
Relatives and friends of the deceased blocked the Pandavapura-Jewargi state highway and demanded that the deputy commissioner visit the hospital where the bodies were shifted to for post-mortem and announce some relief. The bodies were cremated in under police security.