Moneylender Batters Farmer To Death

It brings back chills forgotten from old zamindar-poor farmer stories.

It brings back chills forgotten from old zamindar-poor farmer stories. A cousin of Congress legislator Dilip Sananda, Anil Sananda, beat up a farmer for failing to repay his loan. The incident occurred in Khamgaon township of Buldhana district, Maharashtra state on Wednesday. Later, the farmer succumbed to his injuries at the local hospital.

There is a police case of attempted murder registered against Anil Sananda who is at large.

“The murder was the outcome of a monetary transaction. Anil is absconding and we are looking for him,” Buldhana district SP Himmatrao Deshabhratar was reported. The SP added that adequate security cover had been provided to Dilip Sananda, the local legislator, in case of any possible reprisal after the incident.

Accordingly, the victim Dashrath Kshirsagar had taken loans from Anil two years ago. Due to crop failure, Kshirsagar was not able to repay the loans in time. Anil then had allegedly threatened him with dire consequences.

Vinod, Kshirsagar’s elder son reported that Anil had created a scene at the vegetable market on Wednesday morning, insisting Kshirsagar repay the amount—Rs 4.5 lakhs—immediately. As reported, Anil then proceeded to beat him mercilessly.

Sanandas are “notorious” for money lending in Vidarbha. Anil’s cousin, the Congress MLA from Khamgaon, Dilip Sananda is ranked among the top ten moneylenders in the region.

In a progressive state like Maharashtra, the scene in rural areas are a total contrast. Almost 60 percent of farmers are indebted. The agrarian crisis due to crop failures, caused by its own set of problems like irregular rains, rising costs of agricultural inputs etc., has rampaged rural India for the past few years. It has been has been associated very clearly with the rising burden of indebtedness among farmers.

The inability to repay past debts, and therefore compulsion to access fresh loans from informal sources such as moneylenders, leads to a vicious cycle , and can be touted as the most significant cause of farmers' suicides.

A farmer committing suicide is the ultimate step taken by him to supposedly save himself , from the misery of never-ending loans and their repercussions.

This phenomenon is horrifyingly enough widespread in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, Wayanad in Kerala, Vidarbha in Maharashtra and some areas of Punjab and Rajasthan.

Source-Medindia
ANN/J