Suicide epidemic among indebted Indian farmers amid crop devastation

On May 14, Ramnariam Barma awoke intending to end his life. He had long been pondering the decision, and the government’s refusal to compensate him for the loss of his harvest was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

“We had been losing money for four years because of the drought, but this winter’s heavy rains and hail have left us with nothing,” says the farmer. “I had borrowed 140,000 rupees [HK$17,125] from the bank and 130,000 rupees more from loan sharks, to pay for seeds and for my oldest daughter’s dowry, and I knew I could not return it.”

So, six days before the wedding was scheduled to take place, he grabbed a rope, told his wife he was taking his buffaloes to the hectare of land he owns, but went instead to a nearby electricity pylon. He climbed onto the metal skeleton and knotted the rope, but when he put it around his neck, he was spotted by neighbours.

“Think of your six children! What will your wife do without you?” Police soon arrived and helped persuade Barma to reconsider.

Now he fears the time when the moneylenders – concerned that he will soon succeed in committing suicide – will do more than use threats.

“Someday they will come to torture me. But I have nothing to pay them and nobody wants to buy my land because it has proven to be quite barren. The government has promised me 9,000 rupees as compensation, but that cannot pay for feeding or schooling for my children.”

The youngest of the offspring, only 18 months old, stares at his father while he talks. Showing a clear lack of activity for a child of his age, he is barefoot, he is dressed only in tattered underwear and his swollen abdomen suggests severe malnutrition. His mother, Shyambae, holds the infant on her lap and warns Barma: “If you kill yourself, I see no reason to continue living.”