Despite much hue and cry, there seems to be no end to the farmers’ suicide in the State with another peasant ending his life in Kendrapada district on the Diwali day on Wednesday due to poverty and crop loss.
The deceased was identified as Sridhar Sethy (40) of Palakana village under Koro gram panchayat in the district.
This time, the poverty-stricken Dalit farmer committed suicide by jumping into a pond near his house, following an altercation erupted between Sethy and his wife as she demanded firecrackers for their children to celebrate the Diwali festival.
Though some locals rescued him from the pond and rushed him to the District Headquarters Hospital (DHH), doctor declared him received dead.
Sethy used to remain depressed for the last couple of days due to crop loss and loan burden. He had cultivated paddy by borrowing money from private moneylenders, SHGs and cooperative society. Besides, he was harassed over his inability to earn bread and butter for his family, for which, he and his wife used to quarrel frequently. He took the extreme step after losing mental balance.
With this, total four farmers have so far committed suicide in the district due to crop damage and loan burden.