CHENNAI: A number of debt-ridden farmers have chosen death over suffering and harassment by money lenders, but death does not seem to end their agony. Loganayakki is one of the many whose husbands committed suicide. She lives in fear of being forgotten by everyone except by the money lender.
On Saturday, Loganayakki’s husband Kannadasan went missing and did not answer his phone. “He never returned, not even his full body. I couldn’t even see his face,” weeps the 32-year-old. Kannadasan leapt in front of a train. Loganayakki’s children are six and three years old.
Three years ago, Kannadasan had borrowed money to buy a tractor for his four-acre paddy fields. He was unable to repay the bank and other moneylenders in the village. The bank seized the vehicle six months ago.
“We spent over Rs 50,000 for cultivation, but the crops failed,” says Loganayaki. “The money lenders kept demanding money.
When the tractor was seized, my husband was heartbroken.” Even after the seizure of the tractor, the family still owed Rs 4 lakh. Actor Raghava Lawrence donated `3 lakh to the family.
Loganayakki is one out of 249 families, which lost their breadwinners and are awaiting relief. President of the Farmer’s Federation P K Devasigamani says, “There have been suicides in 267 families. Loganayakki is just one case, what do we do about the rest?”