Partially burnt body of a 60-year-old farmer was found at his sugarcane field at Ganada Hosuru village in Pandavapura taluk on Thursday afternoon.
The cane grower, identified as R. Ninge Gowda, committed suicide by setting himself ablaze due to poverty after trying to burn down his standing crops, according to his relatives.
However, village residents suspect that he might have died while trying to douse the fire at his sugarcane field. Ninge Gowda, they said, had not supplied sugarcane to any factory, Deputy Commissioner M.N. Ajay Nagabushan said.
However, the police are awaiting the autopsy report to ascertain the cause of the sugarcane grower’s death. According to sources, the incident came to light when some village residents entered the sugarcane field after they noticed thick smoke emanating from the field.
The farmers, subsequently, demanding suitable compensation, staged a protest demonstration on Srirangapatna-Bidar Highway in Srirangapatna.
Ninge Gowda was a small farmer with only 17 guntas [less than half-an-acre] of land, the Deputy Commissioner added.
To visit family
Bharatiya Janata Party national vice-president B.S. Yeddyurappa said that he would on Friday visit the family members of Ninge Gowda. He demanded that the State government should come to the rescue of farmers by taking stern action against the defaulting sugar mills.
Yeddyurappa to visit Ninge Gowda’s family on Friday
