On Wednesday, four farmers committed suicide in different parts of Nashik district, taking the death toll to 53 in the last six months.
Supdu Pawar, a resident of Vadre Khakurdi village in Malegaon, committed suicide by immolating himself. The incident took place when his family was asleep. Apparently, he was under Rs 3.40 lakh debt since 2012, which included Rs. 2 lakh from financial institutions. His wife had also taken a loan of Rs. 80,000 from a cooperative society. The villagers said Pawar was unable to clear his loans despite having sold his land.
On Wednesday afternoon, Appasaheb Jadhav electrocuted himself by touching a live wire in Chanwad taluka.
Jadhav climbed onto a distribution box of the State electricity distribution company and grabbed the high voltage live wire. He was electrocuted and died on the spot. According to the sources, he was unable to repay a loan of Rs. 25,000, which he had secured from a cooperative society.
Kachru Punja Aher, another debt ridden farmer who belongs to Shivre village in Chandwad taluka, ended his life by consuming poison. The reason behind his suicide was his inability to repay Rs. 3 lakhs loan.
The reason for suicide for the fourth farmer, Harishchandra Ahire, of Brahmangaon in Baglan taluka, is yet to be revealed.
The district authorities said Nashik has never reported many farmer suicides within such a short span of time. “As of now, we have a report of four farmer deaths. We have called for detailed reports of the cases from police, cooperative societies and bank officials,” deputy collector, Ramdas Khedkar said.
