Post News Network
Paikamal, Dec 24: Farmer suicides refuse to die down in western Orissa as another young farmer Thursday committed suicide by consuming pesticide in Bargarh district.
The deceased was Sevananda Rana (37), son of Mangul Rana of Mundela in Mandiadhipa panchayat.
According to family sources, Sevananda cultivated paddy on two acres of his ancestral land. Besides, he also raised crops on another three and a half acres on sharecropping basis. However, after suffering crop loss due to scant rain, he could harvest only five sacks of paddy from his fields, his wife Pramila (30) said, adding Sevananda borrowed Rs 8,000 for cultivation. He was under severe stress due to the poor harvest, Pramila claimed.
It was learnt that Sevananda started a bicycle repairing shop on his verandah to meet the day-to-day needs of his family.
Pramila found Sevananda in an unconscious state at home Thursday morning. An empty bottle of monocrotophos, a pesticide, was found on the spot. She raised an alarm and rushed her husband to Padmapur government hospital with the help of villagers. However, doctors declared the farmer dead on arrival.
The body was handed over to the family after post-mortem. Sevananda was a soft-spoken person and might have taken the extreme step after suffering crop loss, two other farmers – Suryakanta Pradhan and Narada Batapahar – of the village said. PNN
