Burdened by loans, woman, daughter jump in front of train

Davanagere: A woman and her daughter ended life by jumping in front of a train on a railway bridge over Tungabhadra River in Harihar town on Thursday after being unable to repay loans taken from moneylenders.The deceased were Suvarnamma, 60, a widow working as a labourer, and her daughter Gauramma, 30, from Ganganarasi village in Harihar taluk. Among her three daughters, two were married, while Gauramma, who was disabled, lived with her mother. After her husband's death, Suvarnamma struggled with debt.She took loans exceeding Rs 3 lakh from moneylenders and self-help groups, with repayments due by a week for two loans and monthly for another. Failing to make these payments, she left the village with her daughter on July 1.After staying with her other daughters for a few days, the mother and daughter said they were returning to their village, but instead went to Harihar town. They stayed at Shri Jodi Basaveshwara Temple near Tungabhadra River, not returning to their village, Ganganarasi. On Thursday, they went to the nearby railway tracks and ended their lives.Police said after the postmortem was completed at Chigateri District Hospital in Davanagere, the bodies were handed over to the family.