No relief at Janata Darshan, 4 of family end lives

A debt-ridden farmer and his wife poisoned their two children and committed suicide after they failed to get any relief at the chief minister’s Janata Darshan.

Nandish (37), his wife Komala (30), their children Chandan (12) and Manoj (10) are the deceased. They killed themselves by consuming poison in Sunkathannur in the taluk on Friday night. In his death note, Nandish mentioned that though he approached Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy during a Janata Darshan recently, he failed to get a solution.

According to sources, Nandhish owned three acres of land and had borrowed Rs 10 lakh. The private lenders started pressuring him after learning that he had approached the chief minister seeking help to repay the loan. The police said the couple fed the children chicken kababs laced with poison before consuming them.

Reacting to the report, the chief minister, who was visiting the Sringeri temple on Saturday said, “The news of the suicides in Mandya has saddened me. The government has issued an order to waive farmers’ loans. There is no shortage of funds for the loan-waiver scheme. Farmers should not lose patience.”