The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Woman farmer's suicide spurs officials into action

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jul 06, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Woman farmer's suicide spurs officials into action

By Our Staff Reporter

NIZAMABAD, JULY 5. Revenue and police officials were rushed to Nakkalaguttatanda of Doosgaon gram panchayat under Dichpalli police station where a tribal woman committed suicide along with her two minor children due to crop failure late last night.

The tribal woman, Angoth Duli Bai, (35) gave her children curd rice mixed with pesticide. She also consumed pesticide and collapsed.

The family members, who found the trio unconscious rushed them to a private nursing home in Dichpalli where they were declared dead on arrival.

The police visited the village today and shifted the bodies to the district headquarters hospital for post-mortem. The bodies were handed over to the family this afternoon.

The circumstances leading to the suicide appears to be farm-related debts. Preliminary enquiries revealed that Duli Bai was the sole breadwinner of the family as her husband, Dashrath, was unable to earn his livelihood by way of farm labour.

Dashrath and his five brothers owned six acres of land of which, Dashrath's share was .25 guntas. Duli Bai took one more acre on lease and started farm operations, but crop failure resulted for two years.

She is said to have taken money from private moneylenders to sink borewells, but they failed. Two more attempts to drill borewells met with similar fate. Locals maintained that the family had run up debts and could not clear them.

Duli Bai is said to have asked her husband to return home early yesterday evening. By the time Dashrath returned, he found his wife and two children lying unconscious. He was unable to say what prompted her to commit suicide.

The officials were informed that the family had taken a loan of Rs. 8,000 from the primary agriculture cooperative society some time ago, which was apparently divided among the six brothers.

The officials could not gather information about any private loans Duli Bai had taken in the recent past.

The Nizamabad RDO, Krishnamohan Reddy, said the MRO had submitted the preliminary report and the three-member panel constituted at the divisional level would shortly visit the hamlet and probe into the death.

Ryot ends life

KURNOOL: A farmer, identified as G. Rami Reddy (30) committed suicide by consuming pesticide at Bethapalli in Devanakonda mandal of Kurnool district on Monday.

Financial problems were said to be the cause of the suicide.

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