Mumbai: Constant harassment by loan recovery agents appointed by a private bank drove a 38-year-old man to kill himself at his Andheri (E) residence on Monday.
Prakash Sarvankar, who was unable to repay all the loan instalments due to illness,wrote a one-page suicide note in Marathi saying that he was driven to take this step because of threats from recovery agents.
Sarvankar stated that the recovery agents, contracted by ICICI Bank, would visit his house and abuse him in the presence of his wife and young daughters. They had even taken away his music system and speakers. Four days before the incident, the agents had threatened Sarvankar with dire consequences if he failed to pay up. They even forced him to submit in writing that he would repay one instalment on Monday. At about 10.30 am on Monday, Sarvankar hanged himself from the ceiling with a dupatta.
“This is a serious offence and I have asked my officers to conduct a detailed probe. Four men have been arrested on charges of abetment of suicide. Of these, three are agents and one is a bank employee,” said zonal DCP K M M Prasanna. The police are also likely to make inquiries with senior ICICI Bank officials.
When contacted, an ICICI spokesperson admitted that Sarvankar was their customer and had taken a loan of Rs 50,000. “The police have summoned three agents from our collection agency based in Andheri for questioning. We are also conducting an inquiry and appropriate action will be taken. As a bank, we would never authorise any of our agencies to use coercive methods.”
It is impossible that officials at ICICI Bank were not aware about this. Such strong-arm methods are condoned by them, and have been in the past criticized by consumer courts and regular courts. Maybe it is time to hold the bank officials liable for abetment to suicide and prosecute them.