Bhubaneswar, October 21: A farmer weighed down by debt today committed suicide taking the toll of distressed farmers resorting to such an act to five in the past 15 days in Orissa.
The latest victim was identified as Sunil Sutar from Murtum-6 village under Umarkote police station area of Nawrangpur district. His body was recovered from a paddy field which was seriously affected by drought and pest attack.
“He has incurred a loan of Rs 40,000 from a bank, Rs 20,000 from two Self-Help groups and Rs 5,000 from a money lender”, Nirmal Sutar, elder brother of the deceased, said.
Circumstancial evidence indicated it was a case of suicide, Umarkote police station officer-in-charge R D Sethi said.
While five farmers ended their lives between October 4 to 21, this was the first such incident reported from southern part of the state.
–Agencies