MANDYA/ATHANI/DAVANGERE/HAVERI:Four debt-ridden farmers committed suicide in the state on Wednesday.
A 26-year-old farmer is suspected to have committed suicide by consuming poison. The deceased is Madhu, a resident of Arechakanahalli of Maddur taluk in Mandya district. Madhu had been missing since July 12. He was found dead on Wednesday by his father who had gone to the fields to irrigate the crops.
Madhu owned 30 guntas and had leased two acres on which he had grown sugarcane and mulberry. Madhu reportedly killed himself due to the falling prices of sugarcane and silk, the price of which fell from Rs 350 to Rs 150 per kg.
According to his family members, he had borrowed Rs 6 lakh from private moneylenders, and around Rs 30,000 from a co-operative society.
Another mulberry grower killed himself by hanging. Ningegowda (60) was a resident of Dyapasandra village in Mandya taluk. He had cultivated mulberry on 1.5 acres. He had borrowed Rs 75,000 from State Bank of Mysore, Hallegere, and Rs 3.5 lakh from private moneylenders. The bank had served him a notice a couple of days ago.
Depressed over this, Ningegowda committed suicide at his residence when no was home.
In Athani taluk of Belagavi district, a 28-year-old farmer committed suicide by hanging from a tree at Kokatnur. The deceased has been identified as Annappa Balappa Gowda, a resident of Kokatnur.
According to family sources, Gowda had availed Rs 8 lakh loan from a bank and cooperative societies and also from relatives. He had recently spent Rs 80,000 to sink a borewell which did not yield water. Later, he struck a 50-50 profit sharing deal with a relative and the duo cultivated sugarcane and supplied it to a private sugar factory in the 2014-15 crushing season.
The factory was to pay them Rs 3.6 lakh for the cane supplied. It credited Rs 95,000 in his relative’s account as the first instalment and the remaining is still due to them.
According to his family members, Gowda left home early on Wednesday saying that he was going to the fields. He was found hanging in the field around 6 am. On receiving information, the tahsildar and police officials from Athani rushed to the spot.
Local farmers launched a protest demanding Rs 10 lakh as compensation to Gowda’s kin. They did not allow anyone to bring down Gowda’s body from the tree. However, after officials concerned convienced the farmers, the body was brought down at 9 am. Meanwhile, the MD of the sugar factory to which Gowda had supplied sugarcane announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to Gowda’s family.
A case has been registered at Aigali police station.
Gowda is the second farmer to commit suicide in the district after Gurunath Mallappa Chapgaon of Badal Ankalgi.
In Davangere district, a 46-year-old farmer committed suicide by hanging at his house due to crop loss.
Meanwhile, another farmer attempted suicide by consuming poision in Haveri district.
Confirming the incident, Deputy Commissioner M Manjunath Nayak said that the farmer had cultivated cabbage crop and had incurred loss.