Drought, debt, and death in Maharashtra  Premium

Heartbreaking stories of farmer suicides in Maharashtra's Marathwada region highlight systemic issues and personal struggles faced by families left behind.

Trigger warning: the following article contains references to suicides; please avoid reading if you are disturbed by the subject.

Archana Chinchore’s face is a picture of exhaustion. She sits quietly on a plastic chair in the centre of her modest kitchen in the family home at Bhadra of Loha Taluka, Nanded district of drought-stricken Marathwada region in Maharashtra. Her shoulders are slumped and her head dropped low, as she avoids meeting anyone’s gaze. Her voice is barely above a whisper, soft and fragile, as if it might break under the weight of her grief. 

Once a mother who juggled household chores with caring for her four-year-old son, Archana, 30, now struggles to get through the day. Her life forever changed on August 6 — the day her husband, Hausaji, 32, a debt-ridden farmer, died by suicide. “Around 5.30 a.m., he kissed our son, who was fast asleep and left to milk the buffaloes. It was just like any other day,” Archana recounts, tears streaming down her face. “But this time, he never came back.”

Their 10-acre agricultural fields, barely a kilometre from the house, became the site of his final moments. In December, the cotton and sugarcane fields are lush, a stark contrast to scenes from May and June, when the summer heat cracks the black soil. The lanes in the village are cement-concrete but they are narrow, and Archana’s house is reachable only by a two-wheeler.

As she wipes her tears with her pallu, their son, Gangadhar, tugs at her saree, demanding attention. Hausaji had been burdened by loans: ₹4 lakh from private financiers and another ₹1 lakh from a bank. Heavy showers had destroyed his soya bean and cotton crops, leaving him unable to repay his debts. The pressure, according to his grieving family, became unbearable, driving him to take his life. Now, the debts are carried forward to Archana.

Archana’s mother, Sagarbai, has moved in to help with chores and care for her grandson, and her in-laws go to work in the fields. “She doesn’t eat properly or talk to anyone,” says Sagarbai, her voice trembling. “She spends hours locked in a room, crying. So, I came here to help her and try to get things back on track. I know, the loss is irreversible, but she now has a son to take care of.”

Hausaji’s story is one of many. In Nanded district alone, 146 farmers ended their lives in 2024, contributing to the 822 farmer suicides recorded in the Marathwada region, between January and November, according to a report by the Divisional Commissioner’s office in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (Aurangabad).