The wife of a farmer, who committed suicide outside a village office in Kozhikode, has demanded justice and accused the village officials of holding a grudge against her husband, which allegedly pushed him to take the extreme step.
Frustrated by officials stonewalling his attempts to pay tax for his land for over a year, farmer Kavil Purayidathil Joy, 57, hanged himself outside the village office in Chembanoda on Wednesday night.
Kozhikode collector UV Jose visited the place and suspended village officer Sunny and village assistant Sireesh over the incident. Revenue minister E Chandrasekharan has sought a report from the collector regarding the turn of events that led to the suicide.
Joy is survived by wife Molly and daughters Ambili, Anju and Amal. Speaking to Asianet News, a distraught Molly said that the village officials held a grudge against Joy and was adamant to not help him, despite the family having all documents related to the land.
Also read: Farmer hangs himself outside village office in Kozhikode, 2 officials suspended [Video]
"We had all the required documents. He (Joy) had been running behind the village officials for several months to get it done. But they just won't let us pay tax for the land," Molly pointed out.
"The officers don't care about us. They have government jobs. But what will me and my three daughters do now?" she said, adding that her husband had told her the officers wanted bribe.
Joy’s brothers told Asianet News that he was unable to bear the mental torture from the village authorities. They said that Joy had to pay the land tax in order to to avail loans for various expenses, including his daughter's marriage. However, the village officials refused to let him pay the tax, without giving any valid reasons for the same.
Meanwhile, Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala said the officials who drove Joy to suicide should be charged for homicide.