Farmer suicide as worms add to curse

OUR CORRESPONDENT

Burdwan, Dec. 20: A farmer allegedly committed suicide at a Burdwan village today after insects devoured almost half his crop, leading to a loss of more than Rs 25,000. Barun Pal drank pesticide late at night when his family was asleep. This is the fourth suicide by a farmer in Burdwan in the past two months. The previous cases were mainly because the farmers feared poor returns, and the resultant inability to repay their debts. Around 2am today, Barun's 13-year-old daughter Chaitali woke up when she heard someone vomiting. "I got up and found the door open. I went outside and saw my father throwing up in the courtyard. There was a strong smell of pesticide," she said. "I shouted for my grandparents." The neighbours were woken by the wail in Barun's family. They arranged for a car and took him to Burdwan Medical College and Hospital, about 30km away," Chaitali said. Barun was declared dead at 3.55am and the body was sent for post-mortem, said his elder brother Arun. "We had noticed Barun had been depressed for some time after half his paddy was eaten up by insects. This year's aman crop (the crop sown after the monsoons) was badly hit by the majra insects (caterpillars that live on paddy stems), said Krishna Chandra, Barun's father. "He had expected about 65 quintals of paddy, but could harvest only 38." If the minimum support price of Rs 1,080 a quintal is taken into account, the loss would amount to Rs 29,160. Krishna Chandra said that his son saw the insects on the paddy stems in mid-August. "He sprayed pesticides on the crop but it was too late," his father added. "He had also accumulated debts of Rs 12,000 after buying fertilisers and pesticides." "He withdrew (from family affairs) and did not even talk to me and my brother. And then, he consumed pesticide last night," said Chaitali. Block development officer Amartya Chakraborty visited Barun's house today and spoke to his family. He later submitted a report to district magistrate .S. Meena. "I have received a report from the BDO. There is no report of distress sale of paddy. However, he lost some crop because of insects. He also had some loans to repay," the DM said. Mograhat guard A home guard, who was seriously injured in the clash in Mograhat on December 1 died on Tuesday after being released from hospital. He is survived by his wife, six daughters and a son.