Under water

HER sobbing can be heard throughout her village, Nagaram, in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh (AP). When visitors from Hyderabad, the state capital, some 80km (50 miles) away, cross the threshold of her bare little house, Narsama Anthaiah flings herself prostrate and wailing onto the dirt floor to touch their feet. Her theatrical grief is heartfelt. Two months ago her husband, aged 40, drowned himself. The AP government blames unlikely villains: microfinance institutions (MFIs), which have been expanding fast in the state. Microcredit—small loans to the poor, ideally to start a tiny business—has until recently been seen as one of best hopes for the three-quarters of Indians who still live on less than $2 a day. But the political fallout from such deaths has put paid, at least for now, to the industry's expansion. It could even destroy it altogether in AP, and conceivably beyond.