8 suicides in 7 days: What we know about the Madhya Pradesh farmers who ended their lives

A day after Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan visited Mandsaur and met the families of the six people who were killed in police action, a farmer committed suicide in Hoshangabad district. This takes the number of farmer suicides reported in Madhya Pradesh since last week to eight. The reports come in the wake of a slew of measures announced by the state government to mollify agitating farmers and death of five protesters in police firing in Mandsaur district on 6 June. Here is what we know so far about the eight farmers who committed suicide: Narmada Prasad Prasad was a farmer who committed suicide on Thursday morning in Chaplasar village in Babai, Hoshangabad. ANI reported that he was under pressure from a moneylender.

Madhya Pradesh: Under pressure from moneylender, a farmer named Narmada Prasad commits suicide in Chaplasar village of Hoshangabad's Babai.

— ANI (@ANI) June 15, 2017

Ramesh Basene The 42-year-old farmer ended his life by drinking pesticide at Ballarpur village in Balaghat district on Wednesday morning, reported PTI. He died at the district hospital, police said. Basene’s wife Jankibai said that he was worried, being unable to repay a loan of Rs 1.5 lakh. The authorities however didn’t confirm whether indebtedness led to the suicide. “A tehsildar has been sent to the village for inquiry,” said the district collector Bharat Yadav. Labarra area police station chief Kamal Singh also told IANS: “His family is alleging debt as a reason for suicide. He had three daughters, all of whom are married, and a son. A case has been registered and investigations are on.” Shomla On Tuesday evening, the sixty-year-old farmer allegedly committed suicide by drinking pesticide at Pisnawal in Barwani district. Sub-inspector R Mujalde of Sendhwa police station said that as per Shomla’s wife, he had taken a loan of Rs 2 lakh from a private lender and he also owed Rs 1 lakh to a bank. He was finding it difficult to repay the loans, she told the police. Dulichand Keer The debt-ridden farmer in Sehore — the home district of Chouhan — allegedly committed suicide by consuming poisonous substance. [caption id=“attachment_3655573” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] The 55-year-old farmer consumed poison on Monday after which a case was registered at Rehti Police Station, police said on Tuesday. Keer’s son Sher Singh claimed that his father ended his life due to mounting debts. He said that at time of the incident, his father was alone in the house. When Singh saw him lying unconscious, he was rushed to the government Rehti hosptial where doctors declared him brought dead. Singh said that his father had borrowed Rs four lakh from banks and another Rs two lakh from other sources due to which he remained disturbed. Kriparam Digodiya The 68-year-old farmer allegedly killed himself in Bhairopur village under Shivpur police station in Hoshangabad district, according to PTI. His body was found hanging from a tree at his farm. Family members said that Kriparam was depressed due to worries about loan repayment. He had also sold off parts of his agricultural land. Shivpur police station in-charge Monish Bais said Kriparam was claimed to have been under depression. “We are investigating further,” he added. Hari Singh Jatav Jatav (40) died during treatment in Bhopal after having consumed poison, Shamshabad police station in-charge Sudama Prasad Shukla said. Shamshabad tehsildar Israr Khan said Jatav had some dispute with family members over demarcation of farmland. Krishanlal Meena On 8 June, a 45-year-old debt-ridden farmer, Kishanlal Meena, allegedly committed suicide by consuming poisonous substance at Sagoniya in Raisen district. Meena told his kin before dying that he had a debt of Rs 17 lakh, and was worried about his three daughters who were of marriageable age. Bishan Singh Rajput The 42-year-old farmer, who also held a Bachelor of Ayurveda, Medicine and Surgery (BAMS) degree, hanged himself at Jogadakhedi in Sehore district. Rajput’s younger brother said he had incurred heavy losses in farming in the past 3-4 years, and his debt burden had spiralled to Rs 10 lakh. With inputs from agencies