Debt-ridden farmers in north India had resorted in extremis to selling their wives and daughters to money-lenders in recent months as the country suffered one of the worst monsoons in years, said the National Commission for Women, a government body.

At least three cases have been reported in the Bundelkhand region, Uttar Pradesh, of farmers selling female family members for Rs4,000-Rs12,000 (£50-£150), Girija Vyas, the commission’s chairperson, told the Financial Times.