Kendrapara: Unable to bear the heavy crop loss caused by unseasonal rain, a farmer in the coastal agrarian district of Kendrapara allegedly committed suicide by consuming poison.
The deceased, identified as 57-year-old Kailash Chandra Dhal from Koladiha village under Aul police limits, reportedly took the drastic step after suffering extensive crop damage.
Family members revealed that Kailash had cultivated paddy on 8 acres of land by borrowing over Rs2.5 lakh from local moneylenders. He had planned to repay the loan after the harvest, but his hopes were dashed when unseasonal rains caused severe crop damage.
Distressed and overwhelmed by the thought of repaying the debt, Kailash was in mental agony. After having dinner Friday night, he went to sleep as usual. However, family members discovered Saturday morning that he had consumed poison. He was rushed to the Aul Community Health Centre (CHC), where doctors declared him dead, according to his nephew, Kumarsen Dhal. Kailash is survived by two sons.
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The police later seized the body and sent it for an autopsy. This tragic incident follows another similar case December 25, when 52-year-old Dalit sharecropper Babagrahi Mallick from Santhapura village under Derabish block died of cardiac arrest.
Babagrahi, who had cultivated kharif paddy crops on 8 acres of land—including one acre of his own—had borrowed money from local moneylenders. Family sources reported that Babagrahi collapsed near his paddy field after discovering his standing crops were damaged by unseasonal rain.
PNN & Agencies
