New Delhi: A debt-ridden farmer in Jalandhar district of Punjab allegedly committed suicide on Monday, apparently over inability to pay off dues.
Trilochan Singh, saddled with about Rs 17-18 lakh debt was under severe strain as lenders were pressurizing him for last few days.
The farmer, a resident of Mosahib village in Jalandhar district was unable to cope up with the stress and killed self on late Sunday night. Trilochan Singh had an outstanding loan of about Rs 17-18 lakh. However, after the news of his suicide broke, the lenders are now saying that they have waived off the debt.
Punjab: A farmer in Mosahib village of Jalandhar district, allegedly died by suicide due to outstanding loans.
Police say, “Debt-ridden farmer Trilochan Singh committed suicide last night. He had almost Rs 17-18 lakhs outstanding loans, which his lenders have waived off now.” pic.twitter.com/JO7rrqvzFZ
— ANI (@ANI) October 26, 2020
Similar suicide in Amritsar, last month
Jalandhar incident is not just a one-off incident. In Amritsar also, a farmer committed suicide last month as he was unable to repay the huge debt. Prior to death, he had recorded a video and blamed 2 people for taking the extreme step. In the video, he claimed that he returned the borrowed money but was still being harassed by those 2 people.
Agriculture remains the mainstay for a major share of Punjab’s population and they are even well-off than their peers in other states, still the state witnesses hundreds of suicide by farmers.
As per Tribune report, 501 farmers ended their lives in the state. In 2018, the number of suicides by agriculturists was 536, reports the daily quoting data compiled by Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan).
