Faced With Mounting Debt, Gujarat Cotton Farmer's Son Kills Himself

21-year-old Arvind Nagani of Dharai village in Gujarat's Saurashtra had taken some days off from his studies to help his father sell off their cotton produce at a marketing yard 15 km away from his village. Arvind's family was already under stress with barely a decent produce from their seven bighas of land this year. On Wednesday, when he was told that his produce will fetch just about Rs. 820 per bale at the yard, the third year science student was aghast, as it was hardly enough to cover up for the input price spent by his father, which was almost Rs. 1000 per bale. Minutes after speaking to his father from the yard, Arvind doused himself with kerosene and set himself afire.