A complex of thunderstorms hammered northeastern India Tuesday night with high winds, hail and heavy rain, killing at least 42 people and injuring more than 100.
Most of the deaths were the result of high winds ripping tin roofs off of huts occupied by impoverished people in the Bihar state, according to The Associated Press.
R K Giri, director of Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) in Patna, told The Times of India that storm complexes like this one were common this time of year in northern India and are called "Kal Baisakhi", or "nor'westers".
Nitish Kumar, the state's top elected official, visited some of the worst-hit areas and said 30 deaths were reported in Purnea, seven in Madhepura and the rest in Madhubani and other districts. Thousands of people have become homeless as a result of the storm, he said.
The storms also severely damaged crops in the region, including corn, wheat, mango, banana and litchi, according to The Indian Express.
Pintu Singh, a trader at Purnia’s Gulabbagh mandi, told The Indian Express that there was a large-scale flattening of the corn crop in the region.
This comes after heavy rain and hail destroyed large areas of farmland in northern and western India during March, leading dozens of debt-ridden farmers to kill themselves.
On Wednesday, a man at a farmers' rally in the Indian capital climbed a tree and hanged himself with a white scarf, according to images broadcast by the New Delhi Television channel. Some volunteers of the Aam Admi Party, the rally organizers, tried to save him by untying the noose and rushing him to a hospital.
However, he was declared dead at the hospital, said S. Saxena, an official of the Ram Manohar Lohia hospital.
"I am the son of a farmer. He threw me out of home because of damage to the crop. I have three children. I don't have the money to feed my children. Hence, I want to commit suicide," said a handwritten note recovered from the spot. Police said the dead man was from Dausa, a town in western Rajasthan state.
The rally attended by about 1,500 people was against changes to the Land Acquisition Act introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government. Critics say the changes would make it easier for businesses and the government to buy land and that may disadvantage farmers.
In northern Uttar Pradesh state, more than three dozen farmers took their own lives, according to the state's government. The largely agrarian state — India's most populous, with 210 million people — declared a state of emergency to seek federal compensation.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.