Another farmer commits suicide in MP, toll rises to 22

Yet another debt-burdened peasant has allegedly ended his life in Chhatarpur district of Madhya Pradesh, taking the number of farmers' suicide to 22.
Raghuvir Yadav consumed a poisonous substance on June 21 at his home in Pali village under Bijawar police station, around 300 km from here in the impoverished Bundelkhand region, Sub-Divisional Police Officer S P Dohre said.
The 27-year-old died last evening when he was being taken to Gwalior for further treatment from the Chhatarpur district hospital, where he was initially admitted, he said.
While the family of Yadav claimed he took the extreme step due to his mounting debt, the police said a family dispute led him to end his life.

"A couple of days back, Raghuvir's father Deshpat Yadav had complained of harassment against his sons, including the elder son Munshi. There was a family dispute over the division of property," Dohre said.
Munshi, however, said Raghuvir was under stress due to financial burden on him and denied that there was any family dispute.

With this, the number of debt-ridden farmers who have ended their lives in the state in the last fortnight has reached 22.
Yesterday, four suicides were reported in the state - one each from Chhatarpur and Sagar districts of Bundelkhand and others from Budni, the Assembly segment represented by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, and a village in Chhindwara, the Lok Sabha seat of senior Congress leader Kamal Nath.

Early this month, the western Madhya Pradesh witnessed a major peasant agitation seeking loan waiver and remunerative prices for farm products. On June 6, five farmers were killed in police firing in Mandsaur district.
Besides Chhatarpur and Sagar, farmer suicides have been reported from Sehore, Hoshangabad, Raisen, Dhar, Neemuch and Vidisha districts since June 8.
In Sehore, the home district of the chief minister, six suicides have been reported so far.