DHAKA: A farmer hanged himself in front of hundreds of protesters gathered in the centre of the Indian capital on Wednesday to rally against the government’s contentious reform of land purchasing laws.

Television footage of the protest close to the nation's parliament showed the farmer sitting in the branches of a tree before taking a scarf and hanging himself, as protesters, police and media crews looked on.

The farmer, reportedly a father of three from the desert state of Rajasthan, was rushed to hospital but declared dead on arrival.

‘We are carrying out an inquiry about the entire sequence of events leading to Gajendra Singh's death... because when he climbed, several other people also climbed with him,’ joint police commissioner for Delhi, Mukesh Meena, told reporters, says The Straits Times.

BDST: 2030 HRS, APR 22, 2015
RR