Man commits suicide after being harassed by loan sharks. After being harassed and threatened by representatives of digital lending apps, a 42-year-old Rawalpindi resident committed suicide.
According to the deceased’s wife, her husband initially took a loan of around Rs. 13,000 to pay his house rent and children’s school fees after losing his job, but within weeks he began receiving threats.
According to the woman, her husband was asked to return a much larger sum and began receiving constant threats. To repay his first loan, the deceased obtained a loan from another digital loan app, but the interest continued to mount.
The deceased was allegedly threatened that his mobile phone data (which included contact information, personal pictures, and videos) would be leaked if he did not repay the loan along with the high interest.
The man committed suicide after being subjected to constant threats and blackmail by these digital lending apps.
As a man commits suicide after being harassed by loan sharks, the Race Course police have opened an investigation and have registered a case.
Earlier this year, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) advised borrowers to carefully read all loan terms and conditions, including interest/markup rate, service fees, and late payment charges/penalties, before signing up for a loan through digital apps.
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The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) warned and cautioned the general public in May about the rising trend of mobile app-based micro-credit and nano-loan facilities.
Complaints about harassment by digital loan apps are nothing new; social media platforms are littered with stories about threats and blackmailing tactics used by many digital lending apps to recover loans. However, this is possibly the first case in Pakistan in which a victim of these loan apps committed suicide as a result of the alleged harassment and blackmailing tactics used by these loan sharks.
