Farmers' loans: Family of six found dead in Karnataka; police suspect suicide

A family of six was found dead in a reported mass suicide at their home in Koppal, Karnataka, on Saturday.

They have been identified as a married couple - Shekharayya (42) and Jayamma (37) - and their four daughters - Basamma (23), Gowaramma (20), Savitri (18) and Paravati (16).

The police believe that Shekharayya gave poison to his family and hung himself from the ceiling fan.

Neighbours told the police that Shekharayya, a farmer, had recently suffered massive crop failure and was not able to cope with the mounting debt, reports NDTV. 

This incident follows a series of promises made by politicians to ease the burden of loans on the farmers and in some cases, waive it. Congress president Rahul Gandhi had managed to waive off loans in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh after winning the state Assembly elections. 

However, the loan waivers have not come to Karnataka yet.

Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief Dinesh Gundu Rao called out Prime Minister Narendra Modi's comment describing farm loan waivers as a 'cruel joke'.

"Our coalition government has waived farm loans of seven lakh farmers out of 44 lakh farmers and the process for the remaining is going on. Narendra Modi criticises our initiatives so much, but the question is, what is his contribution to farmers?" Gundu Rao said.

PM Modi had also made another comment regarding the loan waivers saying, "They gave lollipops to people in terms of assurances, and promised loan waiver but only 800 people got their loans waived. How can you trust these lollipop companies?"

PM Modi had made these comments while addressing a rally in Ghazipur.