Two more farmers commit suicide in Mandya

MYSURU: Two more farmers in debt and distress committed suicide in Bannangadi and Honnanayanahalli villages in Mandya district on Monday.

Basappa, 48, who owned a three-acre farm of fruits and vegetables, was reported missing since last night, and found dead on Monday. According to a complaint lodged by his father Ningappa, Basappa gulped down a pesticide in Bannangadi, Pandavapura taluk, Mandya district, because he could not repay a personal loan of Rs three lakhs.  He is survived by his wife Susheelamma, son Sathisha, 24 and 26 year-old married daughter Shivamma.

The other farmer, Shivalinge Gowda, 37, jumped into a well and ended his life after he received a notice from the local branch of State Bank of India, asking him to repay his of Rs three lakhs, in Honnanayanahalli.

A sugarcane farmer, Shivalinge Gowda is survived by his wife Sowmya and two small children. His body was found in the well by his brother Ramesh who went looking for him in the afternoon.

In his complaint, Ramesh said his brother had borrowed Rs three lakhs from SBI. He received the first notice from the bank in November 2014. The second notice, which reached him on Saturday, asked him pay up or face confiscation of his loan, according to local police officers.

Suicide bid at Suvarna Soudha gates

Belagavi: Nearly two years after sugarcane farmer Vittal Arabhavi committed suicide during a protest outside Suvarna Vidhana Soudha, another cane grower, Sidram Hasre, tried to emulate him by gulping down a pesticide during a massive protest by farmers on the opening day of the monsoon session of legislature in this border city on Monday.

Sidram Hasre, 37, sold sugarcane grown on his eight acre farm to Athani sugar factory a month ago but had not received payment from the management. He was prevented from swallowing a bottle of pesticide by police officers and rushed to a local hospital.