Farmers kill selves over debt, dowry: Study

Debt caused from crop failure and inability to pay back the money borrowed for their daughter’s marriage drives many farmers in Marathwada to commit suicide, according to a study.

More than 40 per cent of farmers who took their own lives borrowed from private moneylenders and non-government banks at a higher rates, which eventually added to the financial pressure and forced them to commit suicide. This has come to light in a research done by Deogiri College, Aurangabad that is published in American Journal of Rural Development.

The study was conducted in November 2015 and covered 100 cases of farmer suicide in the Marathwada region. In 2015, Marathwada region again recorded one of the highest farmer suicide cases with more than 1,000 deaths in the state. According to the study, 57 per cent of them committed suicide due to debt. Out of the farmers who committed suicide, in 56 per cent of the cases the farmers had taken loans for agriculture, while 41 per cent had borrowed money for their daughter’s marriage. About a month ago, Hemant, a 42-year-old farmer committed suicide in a village in Marathwada as yield from his land failed despite his hard work, said Jayaji Suryavanshi, an activist who works for farmers’ rights in Aurangabad. He had taken a loan of Rs 2 lakh to buy fertilisers but like the past two years, last year too the land turned black and his efforts to make the crop grow failed. Hemant had also taken an additional loan of Rs 1 lakh for his daughter’s marriage. At last, with no option in hand, he committed suicide, said Mr Suryavanshi.

Kishor Tiwari, president of Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS) said, “The study only shows the tip of the iceberg. As in 90 per cent of the cases, farmers with daughters tend to commit suicide when they fail to pay the amount asked for dowry. In many cases, they borrow money at higher rate and later when they fail to pay back the money, they commit suicide as it becomes a prestige issue.”

The study also revealed that 33 per cent of the total farmers don’t hold any land, which further aggravates their poor economic condition. And 43 per cent of the land is non-irrigated.

“This forces the farmers to take loans from non-governmental banks at a higher interest rate of 24-60 per cent whereas government banks provide crop loans at 4 per cent,” said Dr Khairnar Dilip Ramdas, who headed the study.