Silvester D'Souza
Daijiworld Media Network - Kundapur
Kundapur, Feb 13: In tragic incident, a farmer committed suicide at Jadkal here on the night of Friday February 12 as he was unable to pay back his loans.
The deceased has been identified as C C Joseph (62), a resident of Beesinapare, Jadkal.
Joseph had grown a rubber plantation on his 1.3 acres of land by borrowing Rs 1 lac from Kollur Cooperative Society. Though he had been repaying the principal and the interest, it is said than an amount of Rs 78,000 was still outstanding. He had also from borrowed some amount from other people for his daughter's wedding, family sources said.
He had also borrowed money for building a house, but was forced to stop the work mid-way due to financial constraints.
As he was unable to repay the loans, he consumed pesticide and killed himself. Family sources said that amid all the loans, he also suffered losses as market for rubber had gone down, which pushed him over the brink.
He leaves behind his wife, two daughters and a son.
Former chief Minister M Veerappa Moily, minister Vinay Kumar Sorake, MLCs K Pratapchandra Shetty, Jayamala, former MLA U R Sabhapathi, S Ashwathi of revenue sub division, tahsildar Gayatri Nayak and Dy SP M Manjunath Shetty visited the family of the deceased and expressed their condolences.
Kollur police have registered a case.
Speaking to reporters, Veerappa Moily said, "Rubber cultivators in the state are facing hardship as the market has crashed. The import duty on rubber should be increased so that the import of rubber may stop. The union government should do it. Earlier when UPA government was in power at the center and the rubber and areca farmers were facing problems, the government had tried to rescue them by increasing import duties on the produce. The union government should come to the rescue of farmers who are devastated with the decreasing market for rubber and provide compensation to them. The government should also fix a support price for the produce."
District in-charge minister Vinay Kumar Sorake said that all possible help would be provided to the family of the deceased. "Only farmers are facing problem. Though rubber prices have crashed, the prices of tyres and other finished products have not come down. The union government should immediately come to the rescue of rubber growers."