A sericulture farmer committed suicide by setting himself ablaze at Kannamangala village in Sidlaghat taluk of Chikkaballapur district on Tuesday. The victim was identified as Venkatareddy (42) of the village.
He had taken loans for cultivating mulberry and rearing silk cocoons, but incurred loss due to fall in prices of cocoon. A desperate Venkatareddy had reportedly strewn the cocoons in the field a couple of days ago. He was residing with his wife and two children in his house constructed in the field. He allegedly set himself on fire at around 8.30 a.m. The villagers rushed him to Victoria Hospital in Bengaluru where he succumbed to the burns.
A couple of sericulture farmers in Kolar and Chikkaballapur districts, a major sericulture farming region, destroyed their mulberry crop following loss due to crash in cocoon
prices.
Venkatareddy is the second farmer to commit suicide in the district. Bhoganandeeshwar of Gowribidanur taluk ended his life recently owing to the debt burden.
