• Upset with advice, younger one hangs self
• Elder brother consumes pesticide a day later

Hanagodu: A day after his younger brother hanged himself to death, the victim’s elder brother, unable to bear the pain of his sibling’s death, consumed pesticide and ended his life this morning. This heart-rending incident was reported from a village in H.D. Kote Taluk. 

The two brothers are 24-year-old Harish who lived at Yelehundi village in H.D. Kote Taluk and 26-year-old Venkatesh, a resident of Mysuru. They are the sons of Chinne Gowda. The brothers were close to each other and while Harish had taken up farming in the family’s two-acre land, Venkatesh was working in Mysuru. Both were bachelors and earned considerably well to support their family by following scientific methods of farming. 

Last night, Harish, who had completed his graduation in Mysuru, was spotted by villagers driving his tractor in great speed. Some of the villagers and family well-wishers telephoned Venkatesh and complained about rash driving. Irked by this, Venkatesh advised his brother to drive safe and had a long conversation with him. 

Reportedly hurt by his brother’s words, a sensitive Harish told his father last evening that he was going to the field and left home. He later hung himself to a tree with a wire that is used for drip irrigation. When Harish did not return till late in the night, his father Chinne Gowda went in search of him. He found Harish’s body hanging from a tree. 

A large crowd gathered at the spot and someone took photos of the dead body and sent them to Venkatesh, reporting the incident and asking him to rush to the village. Venkatesh left Mysuru early this morning in a bus. Unable to bear the pain of his brother’s death, Venkatesh got down from the bus at Hanchipura and consumed pesticide that he had purchased from a hardware shop there. 

Venkatesh was spotted writhing in pain by some villagers of Hanchipura but he died before he was taken to a hospital. The villagers managed to obtain the contact details of the family at Yelehundi from Venkatesh’s pockets and the incident was reported to them. 

According to villagers, Harish and Venkatesh were close to each other and Venkatesh was excited about Harish taking up farming and supporting their parents. As the bodies were brought to Yelehundi, the parents and relatives were inconsolable as the family has lost their two bread-winners. When the bodies were being taken for last rites, the parents clung on to them and were pleading with the mourners not to take them away, neighbours said.