Faridkot, March 23: Two brothers from Harineau village allegedly ended their lives by jumping in front of a moving train near Kotkapura on Monday, following a prolonged struggle with escalating agricultural debt. The deceased, identified as 38-year-old Jaskaran Singh and 34-year-old Jaswinder Singh, were reportedly crushed by the Chhindwara Express near Bahmanwala village.
Government Railway Police (GRP) officials maintained that the bodies were taken into custody and shifted to Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital for postmortem examination. Initial reports from the village suggest the brothers, who managed their farming activities jointly, were under severe mental distress due to a financial crisis that had seen their liabilities double to approximately ₹50 lakh. Despite diversifying into potato cultivation, low market returns prevented them from recovering their input costs.
The tragedy has sparked a sharp reaction from the Kirti Kisan Union, which has demanded a complete waiver of the family’s outstanding loans and a compensation of ₹10 lakh for each of the bereaved families. Union leaders asserted that the incident reflects the worsening condition of marginal farmers in Punjab, who remain trapped in a debt cycle due to unfulfilled government promises. The brothers are survived by their wives and a young daughter each.
“Agriculture has become a loss-making occupation,” the union leaders stated in a joint briefing. They affirmed that the prevailing agricultural model is pushing small farmers out of the profession due to rising costs and poor returns. Local residents noted that the brothers shared a deep bond and had reached the railway track on a two-wheeler before taking the extreme step together. The GRP declared that further proceedings are being conducted based on the statements of the victims’ family members.
