Rairangpur/Balasore/Jagatsinghpur: Even as drought situation loomed large over most of the districts in the state, there was a spate of farmer suicides and death over last 48 hours.
A report from Rairangopur said, a young farmer was upset over the sorry state of his farming due to insufficient rain at Nagabhana village under Rairangpur police limits in Mayurbhanj. He allegedly hanged himself Wednesday fretting over the crisis. The deceased was identified as Debkumar Baitha (26).
Debkumar had taken tea in the morning, but he did not go to his farmland. His family members said Debkumar committed suicide because crop in his field was damaged due to want of rain.
Police seized the body and sent it for post-mortem to Rairangpur hospital.
A report from Balasore said, another farmer allegedly committed suicide by drinking poison because of loan burden at Padmapur under Chandipur police limits in Balasore Tuesday.
The deceased was identified as Sumant Behera (46). A case of unnatural death was registered at the police station. He was the sole breadearner of the family comprising five members. His only son, 26, is ailing while two daughters are studying.
Sumant was worried over his son’s health. He had taken loans to the tune of Rs.1.55 lakh from some banks for farming.
His farmlands have dried for want of rains. He could not carry forward farming this year.
He had talked to other farmers of the village and his wife about his woes hours before taking the extreme step.
Kujang in Jagathsighpur witnessed a farmer death Monday. The farmer, identified as Maheswar Nayak, 61, of Parianga under Kujanga block, was allegedly pushed to a state of despair after seeing his crop wither away in the absence of rain. He was found dead in his paddy field. He had gone to the field to check his crop Monday morning. Witnessing the condition of the crop, he fell unconscious, possibly due to a cardiac arrest. Fellow farmers rushed him to Kujang hospital where the doctor declared him brought dead. Police seized the body and sent it for post-mortem.
PNN