Debt-ridden Dharashiv farmer dies by suicide, kin bring body to Collector's office
Relatives and villagers began a sit-in with the body of Dayanand Rathod, 34, of Khanapur, demanding aid for his family, a government job and a prompt panchanama.
Dayanand Santaram Rathod, a farmer from Khanapur village in Dharashiv taluka, died by suicide by hanging on Thursday, October 1. He was 34 and owned a small plot of land. Drought, repeated crop failure and mounting debt had broken him.
Angered by the incident, relatives, villagers and farmers brought Rathod's body straight to the District Collector's office on Friday, October 2, and began a sit-in there. Slogans such as "Farmers must get justice" and "The family of the one who died by suicide must get help" rang through the premises.
Besides farming, Rathod worked as a sugarcane harvesting labourer. Untimely and erratic rain badly damaged the kharif crop this year. Excess rain last year had also caused losses. When the standing crop was ruined, his source of income collapsed. Dues linked to the sugarcane harvesting payment and money borrowed from friends kept growing. He had no income from farming while the debt burden rose, and he was trapped in this double blow.
According to relatives, he took the step at his home on Thursday night after seeing the poor state of the crop in his field. He is survived by his wife, a 12-year-old son and a 10-year-old daughter. With the family's mainstay gone, the two children have lost their father.
On Friday morning, a large number of relatives, villagers and farmers gathered. They placed Rathod's body in the Collector's office compound and staged a sit-in. The protesters' main demands were substantial financial assistance for the dead farmer's family, a government job for an educated member of the family, and an immediate panchanama of the suicide with a report sent to the government.
The sit-in created tension around the office. Given the situation, officers and personnel from Dharashiv City police station and Anandnagar police station reached the spot.
The protesters say drought and crop failure are ruining farmers' households, and the administration should take immediate steps to help families of farmers who die by suicide. Relatives and farmers have said clearly that they will not end the sit-in until they receive a written report on their demands and a firm assurance from the administration. Rathod's death has again raised the questions of drought, crop loss, rising debt and help for families of farmers who die by suicide in Dharashiv district.
Farmers present at the spot asked in anger and grief, "How many more farmers must be sacrificed? Will the government help only then?" They say the drought situation in the district is serious, that government representatives and elected representatives are busy only with inspections and panchanamas, and that debt-ridden farmers have received no help so far.
