Telangana Woman Suicide: Mushrooming Instant Loan Apps Prove To Be New Debt Traps

These loan apps target small-time traders, workers drawing low wages and homemakers who have lost their income due to Covid.

Representational Image ( Image Source :ABP Desam )

Hyderabad: A 24-year-old woman allegedly committed suicide at her residence in the Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh on Monday. In a message recorded before taking the extreme step, she said she owed some money to an instant loan app and its recovery agents were harassing her to replay the amount, threatening to post her morphed nude pictures online and send them to her relatives. The victim described her ordeal in a video recorded in selfie mode. 

The number of instant loan apps is increasing, trapping many people across the country. Some of the apps in use in the state, according to different FIRs, are Ocean Rupee, Life Wallet, Maloo Wallet, Elephant Cash, Box Cash, and Dutta Rupee are operated by Chenchaoping (a Chinese national), Creditbus, Clear loan (Dynamic loan, pocket borrow, easy credit, Finfarm, swift rupee, rupee now, credit star), Credit King, express loan, Money Stand, Infinity Cash, Cash bee, APna Paisa, Quality cash

In Telangana and Andhra Pradesh alone, several people have ended their lives alleging harassment by recovery agents deployed by these loan apps, according to police. These loan apps target small-time traders, workers drawing low wages and homemakers who have lost their income due to Covid. They would advertise on Facebook that they are giving instant loans at very low interest without a guarantee, easily attracting people in need of money. 

However, if they cannot repay their loans with daily interest, the torture begins. According to investigators, the loan app operators resort to threatening the clients to defame them in front of their friends and family if they fail to replay the entire amount.

Their usual modus operandi is to threaten women clients with morphing their photos and sharing them with their family members and friends. Unable to withstand this pressure, many women are now committing or attempting suicide. In the last two years, many such incidents have occurred in Hyderabad, Vijayawada and Guntur, according to local police records. 

In December 2020, the police raided several places across Hyderabad after at least three persons died alleging harassment by loan apps. It was found that this mafia ran an extensive network, and a call centre with 600 people in Hyderabad. After the Hyderabad incident, the police conducted raids across the country and arrested 17 people in different places. Six cases were reported in Hyderabad in May 2022. 

The Telangana government has expressed concern over the instant loan apps. Last year, 61 cases were registered in Telangana. The number has gone up manifold this year, with the police receiving 900 complaints already. As many as 107 cases have been registered so far. The Telangana government has asked the Reserve Bank of India to have an organised system to regulate these apps. 

(With inputs from ABP Desam — It is a Telugu platform of ABP News. For more news, commentary and latest happenings from two Telugu states, follow https://telugu.abplive.com/)