Farmer dies by suicide in Baramati over loan harassment

Pune: A 40-year-old farmer from Parwadi in Baramati taluka ended his life on Sunday after a moneylender from Indapur and the latter’s aides allegedly exerted pressure on him to pay extra money against a loan he had taken.The farmer, Danesh Gosavi, was found hanging from a tree at his farm. The Baramati Rural police found a suicide note near the spot. The farmer mentioned the names of the moneylender and four others in the note, the police said.The Baramati taluka police have registered a case against the five accused under Section 108 (abetment to suicide) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and relevant sections of the Maharashtra Money-Lending (Regulation) Act. The farmer’s wife lodged a complaint with the police.According to the complaint, the farmer had borrowed Rs1 lakh from the moneylender from Indapur in Dec 2024 for a period of three months. His three friends had allegedly introduced him to the moneylender. The complaint stated that the farmer returned Rs1.7 lakh, including the principal and the interest amount, to the moneylender in April 2025.An officer from the Baramati taluka police said, “The farmer’s three friends, the moneylender and the latter’s wife allegedly exerted pressure on the victim to pay more money, claiming that he had not paid the interest amount. The farmer allegedly gave them Rs3 lakh more, but the accused demanded another Rs1.5 lakh from him.”He said the accused went to the farmer’s home on May 12 and threatened him over the money. They forcibly took the gold earrings of his wife and told the farmer to pay the remaining Rs 1.5 lakh by May 25 to get the jewellery back, the complaint stated.“The farmer’s wife claimed in her complaint that the accused had told her husband that he would have no option but to end his life if he failed to give them the money,” the officer said.He said Gosavi did not return home from his farm for lunch on Sunday. When his nephew went to the farm around 3pm, he found Gosavi hanging from a tree with a rope. He was taken to a rural hospital in Baramati, where doctors declared him dead.