Distressed by low wheat yield, debt, Moga villager ends life

Tribune News Service

Moga, April 24

A 38-year-old debt-ridden farmer allegedly ended life by suicide at Bakkarwala village in Dharamkot sub-division of the Moga district, police officials confirmed here today.

Give Rs. 1 cr ex gratia to kin of deceased: BKU

• BKU (Rajewal) chief Balbir Singh Rajewal has urged the state and the Centre to come to the rescue of farmers who were in socio-economic stress as their wheat yield had decreased considerably due to the weather vagaries
• “As many many as 14 farm suicides have been reported in the past three weeks in the state. I urge Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to announce an ex gratia of Rs. 1 crore to the family of each farmer who has died by suicide recently,” Rajewal said

Kuldeep Singh hanged himself with the help of a cloth from the ceiling fan of his room, said ASI Devinderjit Singh, who is posted at the Dharamkot police station. He is investigating the incident.

The deceased farmer’s wife Kulwinder Kaur said her husband was debt-ridden. He was expecting a good crop to repay the loan, but, the drastic fall in yield of the wheat crop left him distressed and mentally disturbed, due to which, he committed suicide.

“I cried for help in the house when my husband was ending his life, but by the time family members could react, he died,” she stated to the police.

The police took the body into custody and sent it to the district hospital at Moga for post-mortem examination. The report was awaited, said the investigating officer. Later, the body was handed over to the family members for cremation.

Meanwhile, the police had initiated inquest proceedings under section 174 of the CrPC into the incident.

BKU (Ekta) general secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokri has demanded the loan waiver for the deceased farmer, a government job to one of the kin and adequate monetary compensation.

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