Villagers block road over farmer’s suicide

BHUBANESWAR - Hundreds of villagers Thursday blocked a road in Orissa’s Bargarh district for more then three hours demanding compensation to the family of a farmer who allegedly committed suicide after failing to repay a loan, police said.

The farmer Kalia Beriha, 22, a resident of Tenganpali village, some 460 km from here, committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree Wednesday near his crop field, police officer T. Bag told IANS.

He had taken a loan of Rs.45,000 from a local bank in the name of his father. He was under pressure after he failed to repay it, the police officer said.

Vehicular traffic was hit for more then three hours after the villagers kept the body of the farmer on the highway and blocked it demanding adequate compensation to Beriha’s family.

The blockade was lifted after local tehsildar Santosh Kumar Kalet rushed to spot and handed over a compensation of Rs.10,000 to the family from the district Red Cross fund.

“We are investigating the case further” Bag said.

Lingaraj, a farmers’ leader, said during the last one year at least 100 farmers have committed suicide in Orissa, and more then half were from the western part of the state which included Bargarh district. However, the government has denied the claim.