Days after Rajasthan farmer Gajendra Singh committed suicide at an Aam Aadmi Party rally in New Delhi, a distressed farmer in Meerut committed suicide on Saturday, jumping from a mobile-phone tower.
Officials and the police tried in vain to stop Yogendra, who sought help from the government to pay off the loan he had taken from moneylenders.
Wheat destroyedA resident of Rasulpur village, Yogendra was upset after the wheat he had sown on 1.5 hectares of land was destroyed in the recent unseasonal rain.
Meerut Collector Pankaj Yadav said Yogendra, a father of three, had taken over Rs. 3 lakh from moneylenders in the village.
“Yogendra climbed the tower and started asking for government help. He was threatening to commit suicide. The police reached the spot immediately and, with the help of local farmers, tried to prevent him from jumping,” he told journalists.
According to the policemen, Yogendra threatened to kill himself for some time and then jumped from the tower. He was killed on the spot.
The death sparked tension in the area as farmers staged a protest in the village against the government. The local administration gave Yogendra’s family Rs. 2 lakh in immediate relief from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund.
