ARIYALUR:Allegedly unable to withstand pressure from a money lender, an 80-year-old farmer committed suicide near Thirumanur in Ariyalur on Monday.The deceased, Manickam, aged 80, was a resident of Periyamarai village.In 2005, he had borrowed Rs 1.75 lakh from one Nachimuthu of Yelakurichi village after pledging one acre of land that he owned.
Seven years later in 2012, when Manickam approached Nachimuthu asking him to repay his debts with interest, the money lender demanded Rs 10 lakh.Shocked with the demand of a such big sum, Manickam argued with Nachimuthu to reduce the amount.Since that proved futile, an upset Manickam gave him the Rs 1.5 lakh that he had taken with him and returned.
Adding more twists, it is said that Nachimuthu had apparently sold Manickam’s land to another person for a sum of Rs 10 lakh in the intervening period between 2005 to 2012.Following these events, Manickam and his son Jagannathan lodged a complaint with the Thirumanur police station a few weeks ago but the police allegedly did not initiate action against the usurer.
Losing all hopes of getting his land back, Manickam decided to end his life. He went to his land and committed suicide by consuming poison on Monday morning. The police filed a case and launched a probe.