A 30-year-old farmer died by suicide in Ujjain district, hours after posting a video on social media claiming that his wheat crop had been destroyed by a hailstorm, triggering a dispute between his family, political leaders and the local administration over the extent of crop loss.

Video claim before death raises questions

The farmer, Pankaj Malviya, was found hanging from a tree on his agricultural land in Kheda Jamuniya village under Makdaun police station limits on Wednesday morning. Police said he had shared a video on Tuesday afternoon alleging severe crop damage due to hailstorm and light rain, and later died by suicide during the night.

According to police, Pankaj had dinner with his family before leaving for the farm. No suicide note was recovered. A postmortem examination was conducted at Makdaun, and the body was later handed over to the family for last rites.

Family cites financial stress, wedding expenses

Family members said Pankaj was under emotional and financial stress. He had celebrated his sister’s engagement just two days earlier, with the wedding scheduled for April. During talks with in-laws, he reportedly expressed concern about meeting wedding expenses, fearing crop losses would worsen his situation.

Pankaj owned around eight bighas of land and is survived by his son and daughter. His father had died a few years ago, leaving him as the primary breadwinner.

Administration denies crop damage

While some villages in the tehsil reported hail-related damage, officials said Kheda Jamuniya was not among them. A patwari-led inspection reportedly found the wheat crop standing and healthy. Authorities also stated that rainfall occurred later in the afternoon, while the video was posted earlier in the day.

Political demand for compensation

Following the incident, a Congress MLA visited the village and demanded ₹50 lakh compensation for the family, alleging denial of crop loss. Officials, however, maintained that survey findings did not support the claim.

Police said the investigation is ongoing and the exact reason for the suicide is yet to be established.