Mahendra Singh, 22, is the ninth Rajasthan farmer to allegedly commit suicide in a week
A farmer allegedly killed himself in Rajathan's Ajmer on Sunday, in what is the ninth suicide reported from the state since last week.
Mahendra Singh, 22, hanged himself late last evening. His family owns six bighas of land (a little over an acre) and, like many others, has suffered severe crop loss in unseasonal rain.
Mahendra was reportedly worried that the crop loss was being under-assessed by government officials. Farmers in the region say they have lost half their crop, but official estimates say only one third of crops have been lost.
Panchayat or elected village council members in Ajmer say they have been objecting to under assessment of crop loss by district officials. Mahendra lived with his wife and, parents.
Last week, a series of suicides turned the spotlight on the state of farmers in Rajasthan and other parts of India.
One farmer from the state's Dausa district, hanged himself at an Aam Aadmi Party rally organized in Delhi to protest against a central government proposal to make it easier to buy farmland for some development projects.
The death of the farmer, Gajendra Singh, is being investigated. His family says he had suffered crop loss but was not in a desperate financial situation.