Yet another farmer has committed suicide in the district allegedly due to crop loss at Tora village under Sadar block. In a span of five days, two farmers have ended their lives, the other having taken the extreme step on Wednesday last for the same reason.
In the present case, Akshay Dharei had cultivated paddy in nine acres of land. He had taken `2 lakh loan from a cooperative society to buy fertilisers and pesticides and for other expenses and hope for a bumper harvest.
But swarms of grasshoppers damaged his standing crops. Moreover, the scanty rainfall also adversely affected the crops, sources said. Dharei was under tremendous pressure to repay his loan. On Sunday, he consumed pesticide, after which he was rushed to the District Headquarters Hospital, where he died on Sunday night.
In the earlier incident, Indra Bariha had killed himself by consuming pesticide allegedly also due to crop loss at Malamunda under Gaisilat block in the district. His family members alleged that he was under severe mental stress due to crop failure.
His drastic step had come a day after the Chief Minister announced a special relief package for drought-hit farmers in the State.
