The spate of farmer suicides continues unabated with two more farmers from Nashik district ending their lives possibly due to the deadly cocktail of poverty, bankruptcy and hopelessness.
Yogesh Salunke (30) from Sawkarwadi in Malegaon tehsil and Dattu Shinde (50) from Thangaon in Sinnar tehsil hung themselves to death in their respective homes. They are not alone; at least 20 farmers from Malegaon have committed suicide this season.
Sources said that Mr Salunke hung himself in his house on Thursday evening. He had not taken any loan but was worried about funds to buy seeds and fertilisers and pay labourers for the ensuing Kharif season. He owned five acre land, out of which three acre was rain-fed while the remaining two acre was irrigated. However, villagers said that the land had remained unproductive for the past three years due to severe drought.
Mr Shinde too hung himself to death in his own house. While the exact reason for his suicide is not known, the Sinnar police said that they were investigating the case. One of Mr Shinde’s two sons is in the Navy and he has a daughter as well.
Social worker and journalist Nana Mahajan said that the suicide epidemic was due to several factors.
“The major factor is crop failure. One failure can be adjusted somehow, but three in a series can break even the richest farmers. Another factor is loans and the third factor is frustration at not being able to fulfill basic needs of their families,” said Mr Mahajan.
