TIRUVARUR:A 30-year-old farmer allegedly committed suicide by consuming pesticide near Koradacherry in the district on Saturday. While the deceased’s wife claimed that crop failure forced him to take the extreme step, police version said the man ended life due to mounting debt burden.
According to sources, K Mathiyazhagan (30), a resident of Simizhi Thoppu in Poonga Nagar near Koradacherry, had sown cotton on his three-acre field. Expecting a good harvest, he had also taken on lease two acres belonging to another farmer.
Mathiyazhagan had incurred huge debts to cultivate the crops. However, misfortune struck in the form of unseasonal rains, which damaged the flowering crop. Mathiyazhagan’s wife claimed that every time he visited the fields, he would return depressed after seeing his withered crops.
On Friday, Mathiyazhagan again visited his fields, where he consumed pesticide. Though farm workers and other cultivators rushed him to Tiruvarur Medical College Hospital, doctors said his condition was critical.
On Saturday, Mathiyazhagan died without responding to treatment. Later, based on a complaint by Praveena, Mathiyazhagan’s wife, the Koradacherry police registered a case. Praveena in her complaint claimed that Mathiyazhagan took the extreme step after recent unseasonal rains destroyed his crop.
When contacted, C Swaminathan, inspector of Koradacherry police station, said that preliminary inquiries suggested Mathiyazhagan committed suicide due to debt burden. However, the police official said that they could not yet say whether the deceased took the extreme step due to crop failure.