A 50-year-old farmer committed suicide on Sunday morning by hanging himself from a tree at Delhi's Tikri-Bahadurgarh border. The place is one of the main protest sites of people demonstrating for the revocation of three farm laws.
According to the police, the man identified as Rajveer Singh, hailed from the Hisar district of the northern Indian state of Haryana. A large portion of the people participating in the ongoing agitation by farmers are from this area.
In his suicide note, Singh called upon farmers to go back home only after the three farm laws are repealed, and the Minimum Support Price (MSP) is guaranteed. He also demanded the federal government to fulfill his last wish and repeal the laws.
"The government demands sacrifice; hence I sacrifice on behalf of farmers", reads the suicide note.
Sputnik spoke with Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella organisation of farmers' unions protesting on the border of Delhi.
Harinder Singh, a member of SKM, claimed that so far 274 farmers have died since 26 November for various reasons.
"The deceased was part of the protest since Day one of the protests. He is a father of two children", he told Sputnik.
The incident occurred a day after farmers marked 100 days of ongoing protests on Delhi's borders.
The protesting agricultural workers are demanding Prime Minister Narendra Modi roll back three new laws: the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.
They have accused the government of abandoning its minimum price support (MSP) scheme, which protects farmers' incomes and leaving them at the mercy of big corporations.
Despite several rounds of talks and clarifications, the protesting farmers fear these laws are set to negatively affect their livelihoods.