‘Debt-ridden’ farmer kills self in Malegaon

Distressed over his debt burden, a 34-year-old farmer has allegedly committed suicide at Malegaon taluka in Maharashtra’s Nashik district, police said on Sunday.

Distressed over his debt burden, a 34-year-old farmer has allegedly committed suicide at Malegaon taluka in Maharashtra’s Nashik district, police said on Sunday.

Maharashtra's drought-battered Marathwada region has witnessed a spurt in farmer suicide. (Representative photo)

Ravindra Abhiman Nikam, a resident of Dabhadi in Malegaon, ended his life by consuming a poisonous substance at an agricultural field yesterday, an officer at Chhavani police station said. He had apparently borrowed money from his friends and also taken Rs 10 lakh loan from a private financial company to purchase a tractor and for other agriculture purposes. But, due to inadequate rainfall this year, he could not repay the amount.

Read: 1 in 3 farmer suicides in Vidarbha over Rs 10,000 debt, claims a study

Distressed over his debt burden, the farmer took the extreme step, he said. The body was sent to Malegaon Civil Hospital for postmortem and later handed over to his relatives, police added.