Chikkamagaluru: A coffee planter from Chikkamagaluru district, struggling with debt, sought permission for euthanasia after his bank auctioned his farmland under the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act (SARFAESI), leaving him without means of income.Dr Vijaya and his wife HN Parvathi presented their petition to the President of India through tahsildar, Rajshekhar.Vijaya borrowed Rs 25.9 lakh against his four acres of coffee plantation located at survey number 40/2 in Kelluru village. In addition, his wife borrowed a Rs 6 lakh agricultural loan against her 3.39 acres under survey number 40/1. However, they both failed to repay the loan due to repeated crop loss, price drop, the Covid-19 pandemic, and bad weather.Apart from this, wild animals damaged the coffee plantation put the couple into hardship to repay the loan amount. “In 2024, we repaid Rs 5.3 lakh, and the bank had assured us time to repay the remaining dues but they auctioned our property,” Vijaya said.He stated, “Property worth nearly Rs 3 crore was sold online for just Rs 89.5 lakh. We are now left with no means to survive.”The Raitha Hitha Rakshana Vedike condemned the banks for the inhumane act. BK Lakshman Kumar, president of the Vedike, said for the first time in the history of the district, a farmer has pleaded for mercy killing due to distress caused by SARFAESI Act.He there are 2,700 farmers under the SARFAESI bracket in the district, of which 400 have repaid loans. However, 2,300 farmers are at risk of losing their lands. He urged the authorities concerned to protect the welfare of farmers.
