Stressed over liabilities in family, a 60-year-old tribal farmer hanged himself to death in Gumla district’s Didauli village, about 100 Kilometres southwest of Capital Ranchi, police said on Wednesday.
Shiva Khadia, whose body was found hanging from the ceiling fan in his residence on Tuesday night, was reportedly under stress for several days and had resorted to alcoholism in a bid to sooth himself, police said. Khadia’s death swung the Government into action on Wednesday and a probe team of the District Administration inspected his residence.
“He (Khadia) was under stress and had resorted to alcoholism to cope. During our initial investigation, we found that his family’s financial condition is stable and he has three sons—all of them are working,” said Gumla Deputy Commissioner Shashi Ranjan. However, it cannot be denied that he was under a lot of stress, Ranjan added.
Khadia is survived by three sons, three daughters and his widow. His eldest son, Karma Khadia, told the police that his father was worried about getting his daughters married, Karma told the investigating team. Khadia, the DC said, was covered under all the welfare schemes of the Government.
Gumla Superintendent of Police, Anjani Kumar Jha, said that Khadia had stopped talking to his family members since a week or so and preferred spending time alone. The sexagenarian farmer was also suffering from several ailments, Jha said. “His alcoholism had increased during the past few days and he decided to end his life. Postmortem reports have confirmed that it was a suicide. The reason is still not clear though,” Jha added.
Meanwhile, State Food and Civil Supplies Minister Saryu Roy sought a comprehensive report from the District Administration on the farmer’s death. Hardly a week ago, another farmer, Lakhi Mahto had allegedly committed suicide by jumping into a well in Ranchi’s Chanho block after failing to get funds under a Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme.
This year, the State is dealing with a rainfall deficit of 38 per cent, as per figures updated on July 29. Gumla is among the districts that have been worst affected by the scanty rainfall this monsoon. While the Government will take a final call on the situation of farmers here after August 15 and pitch in with assistance, it has decided to roll out its ambitious Mukhya Mantri Krishi Ashirwad Yojana (MMKAY) on August 10 in a bid to provide monetary assistance of Rs 5,000 for each acre of land owned by at least 15 lakh farmers here.