The incident has been interpreted as a mass suicide of a farmer, his wife, and two young kids, and has left a big mark on Maharashtra’s rural area. The neighbors went through a horrible experience when they found the dead bodies after not hearing any sound coming from the house and seeing that the door had been locked for more than a day.
This disastrous occurrence is a very gloomy sign of the ongoing rural crisis that has been deteriorating in the state, where the most unfortunate combination of bankruptcy and social isolation often leads the most vulnerable, like this family, to complete despair.
Agrarian Indebtedness and Economic Fragility
One of the main reasons behind such drastic actions is the oppressive and overwhelming power of debt that is constantly increasing. More specifically, the family is reported to have been faced with unpaid agricultural debts due to very bad weather conditions that ruined their crops during the season.
When banks and other financial institutions stop giving out loans, most farmers have no option but to go to lenders who charge very high interest rates, thus trapping them in an unbreakable cycle of debt.
Sometimes the day when one of the crops is not harvested at all means not only the loss of one source of income but also the end of the family’s entire economic foundation and the inception of a state of constant financial fear.
Systemic Failure and the Mental Health Void
The financial documents notwithstanding, there exists a deep shortage of social and psychological support systems, which are desperately needed by those individuals, who are about to lose everything. Although the government usually publicizes the relief measures, the red tape involved in getting these funds means that help seldom arrives to the really needy in time.
Then again, unavailability of psychiatric help at the local level in villages that are remote means that most of the farmers will suffer in silence. This situation is indeed a tragedy that points to a failure of the whole system, where lack of care from the institutions and the stigma attached to bankruptcy combine to drive whole families to the point of no return.
A recent media graduate, Bhumi Vashisht is currently making a significant contribution as a committed content writer. She brings new ideas to the media sector and is an expert at creating strategic content and captivating tales, having working in the field from past four months.
