Debt-ridden farmer ends life

Steeped in debts, a farmer Bariki Veerendra, 32, committed suicide by consuming pesticide in his agricultural field at Pathikonda in Kurnool district. Veerendra, who owned four-and-a-half acres, took 10 acres on lease and raised groundnut and tomato. He incurred a debt of ₹4 lakh owing to crop loss. He went to water his field on Sunday night and ended his life. As he did not return, his wife Maheswari and relatives went to the field on Monday morning and found his body. The police registered a case.