23-yr old techie dies by suicide due to alleged harassment by online loan recovery agents

Narendran, a 23-year-old techie, was found hanging from the ceiling of his house on Tuesday morning. The techie allegedly took his life after receiving threats from loan app operators. Narendran worked at an IT firm in Tamil Nadu’s Perungudi. Soon after the incident, MGR Nagar Police started an investigation on the basis of preliminary information provided by the late techie’s family.

As part of the probe, officials checked his phone and acquired details about the loan apps found on his phone. The loan apps found on his phone include Handy Loan, CashBeen, More Loan, Honey Loan, HomeCash, Yash Rupaya, Future Credit, Cash Tower and Buddy Cash.

Narendran’s family told the cops that he took a loan of Rs 33,000 through a loan app. Narendran had also borrowed Rs 50,000 from a family member and repaid it, according to an India Today report. Operators also allegedly sent messages and made phone calls to his friends, spoke ill of him and claimed he did not pay the loan back.

Besides this, they also threatened to release his obscene images to his family and friends. Narendran was unable to bear the torture and died by suicide. This, however, is not the first case wherein someone has committed suicide citing harassment by loan recovery agents.

Earlier in September, a couple in Rajamahendravarman Anandanagar in Andhra Pradesh’s East Godavari district. A married couple, identified as Colli Durga Rao and Lakshmi, killed themselves by consuming pesticides due to incessant harassment by loan recovery agents.

The couple had taken a loan of Rs 50,000 through an online app. Family members told the investigative agencies that the app’s administrators threatened them since they could repay the loan on time. App’s administrators allegedly threatened that if they didn’t repay the loan on time, they would post the couple’s morphed photos online.

South Zone Deputy Superintendent of Police Sreelatha Murumutla said, “Unable to bear the harassment, they committed suicide by consuming insecticide on the night of September 6 at a lodge. A case has been registered for abetment of suicide under the relevant sections of the IT Act. We have formed special teams to trace the accused.”

(With India Today inputs)