The farmer who committed suicide yesterday in Tamil Nadu, is survived by his wife and three children.
A thirty-year-old cotton farmer from Tamil Nadu's Tiruvarur district, killed himself yesterday by consuming pesticide, after heavy, unseasonal rains on Friday night destroyed half his crop.
Heavy rains and strong winds on Friday night in several parts of Tamil Nadu felled trees and flooded several low-lying areas in the state. Some places recorded as much as 10 cms of rain over 24 hours.
The farmer, Rajaraman, is survived by his wife and three children. "He had debts and was worried about repayment,'' said a relative of the farmer. "Rajaraman had lost half of his crop on his two-acre plot, due to the rains," said police officers investigating the case. "Heartbroken, he consumed pesticide. He was brought to the government hospital at Kumbakonam on Sunday. By evening he was declared dead," police said.
Last week, Gajendra Singh, a farmer from Rajasthan, hanged himself at a political rally in New Delhi. His family says he had suffered crop loss but was not in a desperate financial situation. Nine suicides have been reported from Rajasthan in the last week. Many farmers in northern and western India have suffered severe crop losses because of unseasonal rains in March.