A debt-trapped tenant farmer from Samalkot, who consumed pesticide at his house on the night of December 10, died while undergoing treatment at the Government General Hospital here on Sunday.
The victim, identified as Eedeti Rambabu, 55, a native of Vetlapalem near Samalkot, was a tenant farmer to the Endowments Department and had been tilling the 23 acres belonging to the Sri Bhimeswaralayam for the last two years. He had borrowed about Rs. 15 lakh from several people to meet the input costs. After he had returned the land to the department recently, he could not find any other source of income to repay the debt, the police said.
After being given first aid on December 10, Rambabu was rushed to the GGH. His family attributed the mounting debts to the repeated crop failures and absence of remunerative price for the produce. A case has been registered.
