Kanhaiya Patel (30) of Hata village in Damoh district committed suicide on Wednesday taking the total to seven. He had taken an acre of land on lease and had a debt of Rs.20,000. After his entire arhar (pulses) crop failed, the landowner is reported to have said that if any compensation came by it would belong to him as the owner.
Five of the seven suicides have occurred in Damoh district. The reasons include massive failure of the pulses crop, coupled with heavy institutional and non-institutional debts.
However, Damoh Collector S.P. Singh Saluja told The Hindu: “The suicides were committed due to personal reasons and not debt; crop failure may have been a reason in some cases but for that surveys are being conducted and compensation will be paid for any crop failures we come across.”
A large number of farmers staged a demonstration in front of the Collector’s office on Tuesday demanding compensation for the failed crops.
Uday Singh of Devran village, attempted to end his life by consuming pesticide on Monday. He is reported to be under a joint debt (with his four brothers) of Rs.1.06 lakh from a nationalised bank and a personal debt of Rs.30,000.
“In this case, the suicide was attempted because of tension between Uday and his wife. Luckily, the poison intake was less and he survived,” said Damoh Superintende