An Indian man was found dead Monday in Jiyaguda in Hyderabad in what seemed like a fatal suicide after he allegedly got harassed by operators of a loan app because he failed to pay off his debt.
Raj Kumar Yadav, 22, lived in a rented house with his mother while working as a private employee at a nearby cattle market. For reasons that remained unclear, Yadav took out an estimated loan of $158 in the local currency, according to The News Minute.
He was only able to pay about a third of the amount on time. Because of this, the operators of the loan app started calling Yadav’s family and friends to get him to pay back the balance. However, the move embarrassed the young man to his peers.
Instead of motivating him to pay back the loan, Yadav allegedly took drastic measures to get out of the situation. Yadav’s mother found him hanging on the ceiling in an apparent suicide after she got home from work. But she did not see a suicide note from her son, Telangana Today reported.
Police officers have since launched an investigation into the case as they try to ascertain more details about Yadav’s demise.
It was not the first suicide in the area allegedly driven by the harassment of loan app operators. Last year, over 50 people complained about being harassed in different ways by operators to coerce them into paying off their debts.
Out of the 50 cases, about six committed suicide due to constant harassment. Some of the operators got accused of demanding more money from the people who took out loans even after repaying them. They allegedly threatened to expose their clients to the police or their families, so they would be forced to pay.
Authorities have yet to comment on the alarming situation. But they have been cracking down on crime related to the loan operators to reduce the possible harassment and suicides in the local community.
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