New Delhi: A couple in Ludhiana tragically ended their lives on Thursday, reportedly driven by intense pressure from private bank recovery officials over a delayed loan repayment. Jasbir Singh (60) and Kuldeep Kaur (59), who operated a hosiery shop near their factory in Gandhi Nagar market, allegedly consumed poison inside their shop.
The police have booked Naresh Sharma, branch manager of IDFC-FIRST Bank, Feroze Gandhi Market Branch and two loan recovery bank employees in the case.
This incident came to light on Thursday morning when the couple’s son reached the shop and found them unconscious on the floor.
Before committing suicide by consuming Sulphas tablets, the couple shot a video inside their shop, revealing their intention to commit suicide due to the pressure from the IDFC-FIRST Bank loan recovery team. “With immense grief in our hearts, we are leaving this world today. I am an Amritdhari Sikh. The officials from IDFC-FIRST Bank and some other banks have humiliated me to such an extent that I have no other option. They did not even honour my white beard,” he can be heard as saying in the video.
According to their son’s statement, his parents had taken a Rs 2.35 crore Loan Against Property (LAP) to run their business, claiming that they had also successfully paid 55 instalments on time. For missing the one-month instalment, the couple received over 200 phone calls daily, adding to their distress of not meeting the target to deposit the monthly instalment of the loan, their son claimed.
To recover the delayed payment of the loan, bank members reportedly visited the couple’s residence at Harbanspura area on Goshala Road a week ago. The employees, as claimed by the son of the deceased couple, misbehaved with them. Adding to their burden, the bank officials threaten their son and warn that they will take over their property if the loan instalment is not deposited.
In a recorded video, the couple accused the bank of “mental harassment, verbal abuse, threats of property seizure and humiliation”. The video has invited swift action by the police, and a formal complaint has been filed against the bank and the employees under the relevant sections. “They were under constant mental stress and felt hopeless and humiliated,” said ADCP Sameer Verma.
Both bodies have been sent for post-mortem examination by the police, and a thorough investigation has been launched in the case. Inspector Gagandeep Singh confirmed that a suicide note has been recovered and said, “We are thoroughly investigating the matter and strict action will be taken against whoever is found responsible.”
