Five debt-ridden farmers commit suicide in Vidarbha

Nagpur, May 22 (UNI) Five debt-ridden farmers committed suicide in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra in the last 24 hours, activists said.

According to Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS), a voluntary organisation working among farmers in the region, the five farmers who ended their lives included two each from Yavatmal and Amravati districts and one from Washim district.

With this, the number of farmers in Vidarbha who have taken the extreme step during 2007 has touched 365, a VJAS press release here said.

These include 70 in January, 88 in February, 86 in March, 90 in April and 31 in May, the release added. VJAS recorded 1,280 farmers' suicides in 2006.

UNI