Farmer commited suicide after failing to repay loan, claims family

Family of the farmer, who allegedly died after committing suicide in Raghunathpura of Sri Ganganagar here on Thursday claimed that he was forced to take the extreme step because he was unable to repay a bank loan.

"My brother used to receive frequent notices from Marudhara Gramin Bank branch in Vijaynagar. He was unable to repay the loan and was very stressed about it," said the brother of the farmer.

The 42-years-old farmer Netram Nath allegedly committed suicide by consuming pesticides in his farmland in Raghunathpura village on June 3.

According to family members, Nath took this step as he was undergoing a major financial strain.

"We are protesting against the Rajasthan government in Sri Ganganagar with Netram's dead body. The state government should immediately waive off farmers loan and they should provide all the farmers with Rs 20 lakh as compensation amount," a villager staging protest told .

He added, "If Ashok Gehlot-led BJP government does not do anything in this regard at the soonest, we will be taking Netram's body to Rajasthan Vidhan Sabha and will stage a protest over there, on Friday."

Villagers found Netram lying in an unconscious state on a cot and informed his family members. Police immediately reached the spot and took him to a nearby hospital where he was declared dead by the doctors.

Marudhara Gramin Bank manager Jagroop Singh denied that the bank had sent notices to Nath. "We had not sent any bank notice to Netram for the past few months; he is our regular customer, why would we bother our regular customers by sending a notice? His account currently holds Rs 3 lakh approximately," said Singh.

The farmer is survived by his wife and two sons.

( With inputs from ANI )