BALASORE: An elderly farmer of Nuapur village under Soro police limits committed suicide allegedly over crop loss and debt burden on Sunday.
The body of Gayadhar Jena (66) was found hanging in his farmhouse in the morning.
Goutam Jena, son of Gayadhar, said his father had borrowed Rs 1 lakh from a cooperative society and another one lakh from local money lenders for investment in mushroom and other crop cultivation last year.
But the crops were damaged due to unseasonal rain, he added.
“Despite hard labour and investment, my father was unable to get profit from farming.
Even it was difficult to earn the principal amount from farming. My father was mentally stressed for several days and was not speaking with family members,” he said.
On Saturday night, Gayadhar went to sleep after dinner, but he was not found in the house in the morning. Family members started searching for him and found him hanging in the farmhouse.
Later, they informed Soro police, who rushed to the spot and seized the body.
Balasore Sub-Collector Nilu Mohapatra expressed ignorance about the incident and said, “We have not received any information about the farmer’s suicide.”
However, he assured that he will look into the matter.