Sundargarh: Just a week after a farmer committed suicide at Tangarpali block in Sundargarh district, another farmer of the same block in this district ended his life by consuming poison.
The deceased has been identified as Sachidanand Patel (45) of Bartankela village. He is survived with his widowed wife Rajeshwari Patel and two minor children. Rajeshwari claimed that her husband was under severe stress over crop loss and loan debt. Villagers demanded immediate compensation for the bereaved family.
According to family members, Patel had cultivated paddy in his own 1.5 acre farm and as a sharecropper in another 3-acre farm by borrowing money from the local LAMPS.
He had hoped of a good harvest and wished to return the borrowed loans. However, his hopes were dashed following crop loss due to drought-like situation in the block.
Moreover, the pest-attack damaged his three acre of paddy. Since then, he was under severe trauma to fend his family and return the loans. As usual, he went to see his farm October 24. Unable to see the devastating condition of his farm, he consumed poison.
Family members spotted him writhing in pain and vomiting blood in the farm and rushed him to the district headquarters hospital. After preliminary treatment, he was shifted to Burla-based VSS Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (VIMSAR). However, he breathed his last Saturday evening while undergoing treatment, reports said.
“The drought-like condition forced Patel to take the extreme step. We request the administration to help his widow and children,” fellow villagers said.
Scanty rainfall in Sundargarh has compounded the woes of the farmers in the district. The worst sufferers are farmers of Tangarpali and Sadar block.
It may be noted here that a sharecropper identified as Purnachandra Sethy (51) of Nialipali village under Tangaripali block had committed suicide by consuming poison October 22.
PNN
