Failing to pay loan, one more farmer commits suicide in MP; toll at 12

Another farmer ended his life at Rampura village in Dhar district on Friday, taking the total number of agriculturerelated suicides in Madhya Pradesh to twelve since the start of this month.

The victim, 40-year-old Jagdish Mori, consumed insecticide on Friday afternoon allegedly because he was unable to repay a loan taken against his father’s property. He died the same night in a Dhar hospital.

Relatives said Jagdish was under a lot of pressure to settle the debt.

However, police dismissed reports that the farmer had committed suicide due to loan repayment concerns. Dhar SP, Birendra Singh said that he took the extreme step because of a family dispute and the deceased has no land in his name.

“Jagdish could not have taken a loan because he had no land to call his own. He was an alcoholic who decided to kill himself after a dispute with his family,” said Dhar superintendent of police Birendra Singh, adding that an investigation is on.

The state recently witnessed a big farmers’ stir over loan waiver, farm produce prices and other demands.

The government has struggled to contain the acute agricultural crisis, despite assurances from the chief minister and promises of a partial loan waiver. Farmers say they are caught in a cycle of plummeting crop prices, a demonetisation-induced cash crunch and exploitative middlemen.

The death of five farmers in police firing in Mandsaur district on June 6 during the unrest had triggered a series of protests in various parts of the state. Violent protests had rocked the Malwa region putting the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government on the backfoot.

Since June 8, the state has witnessed a total of 12 farmer suicides. Earlier incidents were reported from Sehore, Hoshangabad, Raisen and Vidisha districts.