In yet another incident of a suspected suicide of an allegedly debt-ridden farmer in distress within a week, 40-year old Baldev Mahto of Sutiambe village under Pithoria police station, ended his life jumping into a well near his house. He was reportedly not able to clear the loans taken from various sources, including Kisan Credit Card.
On Saturday last, Kaleshwar Mahto, 44, another farmer, had committed suicide at Semal Beda village by hanging himself from a tree near his field in broad daylight apparently due to pressure of mounting bank loan taken from Kisan Credit Card and damage of crops. Both the villages - Sutiambe and Semal Beda - come under'Radhe' panchayat and Pithoria police station.
"Pichle kai dino se kafi pareshan rahte the aur bolte the…..baccha ka naam likhana hai….aur loan bhi badhta ja raha hai…kuan me pani bhi nahin hai, fasal barbad ho raha hai. lagta hai hum kuch kar lenge (He was very much tensed for the last few days and used to say that we have to get our son admitted in college and the loan is rising day by day and there is no water in the well…..don't know, how it will be done…. I think I will do something)," said deceased's wife Anita Devi. It was never anticipated that he will take such an extreme step, she added.
She further said that last evening he went for a walk at around 4 pm and came back but after sometime he again went out and returned in the night and asked for food.
"After taking food quite early in the evening, he went to bed without saying anything. Don't know what happened then…when he came out and jumped into the well located just outside our house. When I woke up early in the morning and looked into the well to see whether there was any water to irrigate the crops in the field, I found him lying in it," said Mahto's wife. Immediately, the neighbours were called up to take him out, but he was found dead, she added.
According to wife Anita Devi, they tried to dig a well four times after selling out a piece of their land in 2010, but they did not succeed as two of them collapsed during the digging while there was no water in the fourth one. "Somehow the third one succeeded partly as it also used to dry down during summers," said Anita.
"Besides KCC, he had also taken a loan of Rs 20,000 from a committee of women running in the village and some other private loans from other relatives and some other sources which were invested in purchasing French beans, cauliflower and tomato seeds and also for clearing some of the private loans taken from the family," she said. Anita denied the claims made by police that he was a habitual drinker but admitted he was used to take liquor occasionally.
Talking about the mobile phone purchased recently by Mahto, she said that it was purchased for Rs 1400 as no one had any mobile phone in the family. The family has about half an acre of land in the area, where they grow French beans, tomatoes and other vegetables which also got damaged due to lack of irrigation.
Mahto's elder son Sonu Kumar, who had recently passed class 10 exam also asserted that he was under distress due to mounting loans taken from various sources and used to say that he will do something. Mahto is survived by two sons Sonu Kumar and Manish Kumar.
Meanwhile, the district administration rejected the claims made by the deceased family, saying that prima facie it did not appear to be a case of suicide in distress as the loan was sanctioned only a few days ago and he was drunk while he jumped into the well.
Talking to media persons immediately after the incident on Thursday, Deputy Commissioner Manoj Kumar said the farmer didn't seem to have committed suicide under pressure of clearing the loan.
"The deceased was sanctioned a loan of Rs 25,000 under the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) scheme barely a week ago. He still had enough time to repay the loan. Bank authorities confirmed that he withdrew Rs 20,000 in three installments on June 4, 7 and 14 a sum of Rs 10,000, Rs 5000 and Rs 5000 respectively," Kumar said, adding that there was no pressure from the bank. He had no pressure to clear the loan and the way he withdrew a sum of Rs 20,000 in a haste within a week, prima facie it does not appear to be a suicide in distress, added the DC.
"He had also purchased a mobile phone recently…and a person in distress or pressure will never do that," said Kumar.
SSP Kuldeep Dwivedi said that the body has been sent for postmortem following which details about the case could be revealed. "But as of now, initially there does not appear to be any foul play in this case," said the SSP. Investigations have been initiated in this regard after lodging a case of un-natural death, he added.