“The farmer said that he and his family would carry out self-immolation in front of the Mumbai state headquarters if they fail to get justice”
–By Khushi Namdev
A farmer from Maharashtra was forced to travel to Cambodia to sell his kidney to repay a loan of Rs. 1 lakh, carrying an interest of Rs. 10,000 per day, which caused his debt to swell to Rs.74 lakh.
Roshan Sadashiv Kude, a resident of Chandrapur district of Maharashtra, was suffering repeated losses in farming and decided to establish a dairy business. The farmer took a cumulative loan of Rs. 1 lakh from several moneylenders to start this business.
Even before the dream of running a successful business could take off, the cows he purchased died, and the crops on his land failed, turning his dream into a disaster.
As his financial situation worsened, the growing debt trap allegedly led to moneylenders harassing Kude and his family. To meet the ever-increasing interest payment and pay off the debt, Roshan sold his land, tractor, and other resources. However, the debt still remained.
One of the moneylenders he took money from then advised him to sell his kidney and repay the debt. An agent took him to Kolkata to carry out the required medical tests and later flew him off to Cambodia, where his kidney was removed and sold for 8 Lakh rupees.
After enduring severe mental and physical trauma, Kude tried seeking help from the Police and filed the complaint. However, the police took no action in the matter.
The farmer has stated that if he doesn’t receive justice, he, along with his family members, will self-immolate in front of the Mantralaya in Mumbai, the state headquarters.
The accused moneylenders include Kishore Bawankule, Manish Kalbande, Laxman Urkude, Pradeep Bawankule, Sanjay Ballarpure and Laxman Borkar, all residents of Brahmpuri town.