Debt-ridden farmer dies by suicide in Wayanad

Wayanad: A debt-ridden farmer died by suicide in Wayanad on Friday. This is the third farmer suicide in Kerala in the past few weeks.

Parappallil Thomas alias Joy (58), who had been missing since morning, was found hanging from a tree around 4.30 pm. Thomas had accumulated a debt of over Rs 10 lakh, said his relatives.

A prominent dairy farmer affiliated with the Kallody Dairy Farmers’ Society, Thomas had lost one of his milking cows, which had provided 30 litres of milk per day, a few months back. It is understood that since then he was disturbed.

Thomas struggled to repay the loans availed from various banks to purchase cows and for the education of his son, said Jineesh, son of the farmer's brother.

According to Jineesh, Thomas had availed loans from the Kallody branches of Bank of Baroda and Kerala Gramin Bank. He had also borrowed from friends for emergencies.

After the inquest by the Mananthavadi Police, the body was shifted to the District Hospital for postmortem.

The last rites of the farmer would be held at St George Forane Church, Kallody Saturday afternoon. Thomas leaves his wife Lissamma and children Sijo and Silja.

This is the third farmer suicide in the state this month. A 71-year-old cancer survivor and farmer Naduvath Subramanian-- who had to move out of his 2.20 acres of land on the fringes of the forest in Kannur district because of frequent wild elephant raids -- ended his life on Wednesday, November 15. Four days before, on November 11, K G Prasad (55), a paddy farmer from Alappuzha's Thakazhy, died by suicide blaming the state government for not closing the loan he took against the paddy he sold to the Department of Food and Civil Supplies.