Farmer dies by suicide at Khatkar toll plaza

A 55-year-old farmer allegedly died by suicide by consuming a poisonous substance at a dharna site at Khatkar toll plaza of Jind on Tuesday night.

Protesters at the site said that the dead farmer was upset over the ongoing standoff between the farmers and the Central government over the three contentious farm laws. Police, however, said that the exact reason for the suicide can be ascertained only after a postmortem examination.

For the past several months, farmers have been staging dharnas at this toll plaza situated on the Delhi-Jind-Patiala National highway. The deceased farmer, identified as Satpal Singh, had been providing food and tea to the agitators in the area. Sources said Satpal was a small farmer from Khatkar village of Jind and owned just about one acre of land.

BKU district president, Azad Palwa said, “He was distressed over the breakdown in dialogues between the farmer leaders and government representatives on the issue of three farm laws. He was upset that the demands of the farmers were not being accepted even after over six months of agitation. Further, a shed at the dharna site has collapsed for the fourth time during a recent storm, which also led to tension in his mind.”

“At 5am on Wednesday, a group of farmers found Satpal’s body lying in the shed, with a bottle of poison lying next to him. His body was taken to the Narwana civil hospital for postmortem,” Palwa said.

Later, when his body was taken to his village, farmers from neighbouring villages, while raised slogans in support of the ongoing agitation and participated in his last journey.

Later, BKU leader Gurnam Singh Chaduni also reached Khatkar to pay his tributes to the deceased. The farmers have demanded the martyr status for the deceased apart from government job to a family member of Satpal. Palwa said as many as eight agitating farmers from Jind have died during the ongoing agitation so far.