K'taka woman farmer commits suicide after alleged harassment by micro-finance company

In a tragic incident, a woman farmer in Karnataka's Chikkamagaluru district committed suicide after being allegedly harassed by staffers of a microfinance company to repay a loan, police said on Saturday

The deceased has been identified as 64-year-old Deviramma and the incident occurred in Tangali village of Kaduru taluk. According to the police, the victim had taken a loan of Rs 78,000 from the Grameena Koota Finance Company.

As she was in crisis due to crop failure, she has not been able to pay an instalment for a month. The company staffers had been coming to her house ever week since and allegedly harassed and pressured her to repay the loan.

Not being able to take the torture, the woman hung herself inside her house. A case had been lodged against the microfinance company staffers Shankar Nayak, Usha, and Rubina with the Kadur police station.

Chikkamagaluru has been declared a drought-hit district by the state government. According to official statistics, three farmers have committed suicide due to the drought.