Farmer kills self in drought-hit Tikamgarh, family carries body to hospital for 2kms on cot

BHOPAL: Just two days after a farmer committed suicide in Sehore, another farmer ended his life in drought-hit Bundelkhand on Friday. To add insult to injury, his family members had to reportedly carry his body for 2 kilometres to the hospital on a cot.
Police said that successive droughts leading to unemployment were the reasons for 45-year-old Dhaniram Kushwah taking his life in Tikamgarh.They added that he hanged himself at his home in Bargola village in the early hours of Friday.
Kushwah’s family had been facing a dire financial situation following successive droughts in Tikamgarh. Due to poor rains this year, the kharif crop had failed. Kushwah’s father Mithoolal said that fields had dried up in the present rabi season as there was no water.
Since there was no work on the farm, Kushwah was under tremendous stress, his father explained. Consequently, he ended his life.
According to villagers, Kushwah was trying to seek employment through MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) scheme, but in vain.
Police said that further investigations are on to ascertain the reasons behind Kushwah’s death.
On Wednesday, Harji Kishanlal, a farmer from Sehore, breathed his last in Bhopal’s Hamidia hospital after consuming poison last week. Kishanlal’s family members claimed that he was under Rs 2 lakh debt.
This year about 12 farmers from Sehore have committed suicide. National crime record bureau (NCRB) figures related to accidental deaths and suicides in India show that at least three farmers commit suicide every day in Madhya Pradesh.