Brother and father of the deceased had already committed suicide
Last surviving male of debt-ridden farmer family too ends life
By Shaurya Sharma/Raju William
Fatehgarh Sahib, August.3, 2017 : A 10-year old debt claimed precious lives of three male members of a farmer family owning 4-acre land at village Chanarthal of Fatehgarh Sahib district with the last surviving male committing suicide on Thursday.
A pall of gloom descended at the house of Devinder Singh (32) who committed suicide this morning leaving behind mother, wife and a daughter to survive the odds of unmatched tragic proportions.
The deceased hung himself from ceiling fan due to depressions and alleged harassment by the commission agent. The village Panchayat informed the police who took the body for post-mortem and other formalities.
Jaswinder Singh, the brother-in-law of the deceased told that the family had taken a loan of Rs 4 lakh 10 year ago but could not repay. Inability to repay took a heavy toll on his brother Gurpreet Singh who preferred to end his life about six years ago.
But this brought no end to the family’s woes. And their father Gurlabh Singh also took the extreme step of committing suicide on December 31, 2016 allegedly due to depression.
This happened after he reached a settlement with the commission agent who allegedly convinced him to dispose of the land and in lieu would get the family 10 acre land in Mansa district after deducting the debt amount from the proceeds of the sold land.
Jaswinder Singh also alleged that the commissioner agent sold their land at village but did not get the family promised alternative chunk of 10 acre in Mansa. The sale amount in excess of the outstanding loan amount of Rs 4 lakh was not given to him either.
Gurlabh Singh then approached the BKU (Dakonda) faction which led a demonstration outside the residence of the commission agent at Aman Colony Patiala for few days but committed suicide during the demonstration by consuming some poisonous substance.
The police lodged the FIR and the court case is pending.
Ram Singh Matorda of BKU (Dakonda) said that their organization had taken up the case with administration of Patiala and Fatehgarh Sahib but could not get justice.
Unable to bear the trauma of having lost their family land and subsequent justice, Devinder Singh, the last surviving male of the family took the unfortunate decision of ending his life too.
When contacted, DSP Fatehgarh Sahib, Varinderjit Singh said action would be initiated after recording the statements of the bereaved family.
Meanwhile, sources said the commission agent reached a compromise and gave Rs 5 lakh to the bereaved mother of the deceasedd. The deceased is learnt to have strained relations with wife who left him and their house to live with her parents.