The growing number who have committed suicide to escape the shame has attracted concern but less attention has been paid to farmers handing wives and daughters to prostitution. Sangeeta, a farmer's wife from the Bundelkhand area, which straddles Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh and has been particularly hard hit, told campaigners how her husband had sold her to a pimp for one month to raise 2,500 rupees (£31) to settle a debt.