Man hanged himself from tree in front of hundreds of people who had gathered in capital to protest against land reforms. A farmer has hanged himself in front of hundreds of protesters gathered in India’s capital to rally against the government’s reform of land purchasing laws.

Television footage of Wednesday’s protest in New Delhi showed the father of three sitting in the branches of a tree before taking a scarf and hanging himself as police, protesters and media crews looked on.

He was rushed to hospital, but declared dead on arrival. Local media said a suicide note had been recovered from the farmer’s body, which said he had recently suffered crop losses because of unseasonal rains in Rajasthan.

Narendra Modi, the country’s prime minister, said the nation was “deeply shattered and disappointed” over the death. “At no point must the hardworking farmer think he is alone. We are all together in creating a better tomorrow for the farmers of India,” Modi said on Twitter.

Anger was mounting over whether police and rally organisers did enough to save the man, as a political row erupted over who was to blame for the suicide.

Read More: aljazeera