Mandya: Debt-ridden farmer ends life with wife, two children

Mysuru: A debt-ridden farmer, who claimed to have met Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy recently for help in clearing his loans, committed suicide with his wife and two children at his farmhouse in  Sunkathannoor village, Pandavapura taluk, Mandya district on Saturday.  In a suicide note addressed to Mr Kumaraswamy, the 40- year- old farmer, Nandish said, “I met you and shared my problems with you. I have not taken this decision as a coward, but as all my efforts have been futile. Our last wish is that our bodies be handed over to the corporation so no one touches them."  

The police confirmed that the farmer had met Mr Kumaraswamy during his Janata darshan recently.  Nandish,  his wife Komala 35), a son, who was in class 7 and a daughter, who was in class 6, had committed suicide by consuming some poison.  The farmer had taken a loan of Rs 10 lakh, including Rs 4 lakh from the Cauvery Grameena Bank and a hand loan of over Rs 6 lakh, according to the police. Relatives said he was worried as he was heavily in debt. 

“He grew sugarcane, mulberry and vegetables, but recently sold one- and- a- half acres of his  2.75 acre land to clear his farm loan. But he still had other loans to pay," they revealed.  Minor irrigation minister , Puttaraju visited the village on Mr Kumaraswamy's orders and met Nandish’s relatives to condole his death.  The bodies were handed over to relatives after an autopsy at the Pandavapura government hospital.  The Pandavapura police have registered a case.