Under debt, Rajasthan farmer ends his life

A 45-year-old debt-ridden farmer allegedly committed suicide by consuming celphos in Raisinghnagar of Rajasthan's Sriganganagar district, police said Tuesday. The farmer, identified as Sohan Lal, had taken a crop loan of Rs 2.5 lakh. He took celphos, a pesticide, on Sunday. The body was handed over to family members after a post-mortem on Monday, Raisinghnagar police station in-charge Kishan Singh said.

He said Sohan Lal's neighbour gave them a suicide note that he claimed to have found at the farmer's residence. In the suicide note, Lal has held the state government responsible for not waiving loans of farmers as promised in their election manifesto. Singh said the claims in the suicide note were being verified and the handwriting would be matched with that of the farmer to establish its authenticity.