Protesting at Jantar Mantar, Tamil Nadu farmers were stopped by the Delhi police as they tried to drink their own urine on Saturday. This unusual step was carried out as a bid to draw the government's attention towards their demands. A couple of them, however, had managed to drink a few drops by the time police intervened. Speaking about this unusual method of protest, P Ayyakkannu, who is leading the farmers said, "We know that it's humiliating to drink your own waste but the government has left us with no option but to resort to such methods." The farmers, who hailed from different parts of the southern state, had on Friday vowed to drink urine and even eat faeces if the government failed to find a solution to their plight by the weekend. They have been agitating for the last 40 days demanding drought relief funds, waiver of agricultural loans and a better Minimum Support Price from the Centre. Over the last 39 days, these farmers have resorted to several dramatic and gruesome protest tactics such as holding up skulls of other farmers who had committed suicide under debt, stripping in front of the PMO, keeping mice and snakes in their mouth and also holding mock funerals, in a bid to grab the government's attention. They claim that the government has remained indifferent to their plight Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, BJP MP from Tamil Nadu Pon Radhakrishnan and CPI (M) general secretary S Sudhakaran Reddy among others have already met the agitating farmers and extended their support to their cause. Later on Saturday, the farmers announced that they would collect their urine in a bucket and send it to their families in Tamil Nadu. "The (state) government is not providing us with drinking water back home so we are sending them urine to quench their thirst," Ayyakkannu said. Tamil Nadu saw the worst drought in the last 140 years in 2016, with most farmers losing their crops. The crop loss and the high interest on loans have led to several farmer deaths in the state. According to an estimate, between October and December last year, over 120 farmers lost their lives.

Stay updated with all the Delhi Latest News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.