BENGALURU: Unable to bear the harassment over his inability to repay loans which he took through 40 loan apps, a 55-year-old bank employee committed suicide by jumping in front of a moving train near Kengeri in City railway police station limits on Monday morning.
The deceased has been identified as Nanda Kumar, a resident of Nagadevanahally, who was working in a co-operative bank. Siri Gowri, Superintendent of Police, Karnataka Railways, told TNIE. “The victim has named 40 loan apps in his suicide note. From one app, he took a loan of `3,000 and the maximum he has taken is `16,000. In the death note, the victim said he was unable to take the torture. He also had a troubled married life. The case is under investigation.”
Lenders sent lewd messages to victim
The lenders were sending Kumar morphed pictures and uploading them on porn sites. They were also sending lewd messages and porn content to his contacts and friends and made it look as if he had sent them. The city railway police have zeroed in on a few suspects. Speaking on how the lenders got access to the personal details of the victim, a police officer attached to one of the CEN police stations said the accused deceived the victim by asking him to click on certain links which gave have them access to his electronic devices including computers and laptops.
“After getting access, they hack the social media accounts and use it to harass the borrowers. One should be very careful with loan apps. In a rush to get money, gullible victims share all vital information on such loan apps. Most social media users use password managers to store passwords on their browser as they do not need to memorise it.
After getting access to the password manager the accused can easily access social media accounts. It is always better to enter the password each time to keep away from such risks,” the officer added. A case of abetment to suicide under Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) has been registered against the unidentified accused.
(Suicide helplines -- Maithri, Cochin: +91 239 6272; Sumaitri, New Delhi: 2338 9090, Sneha, Chennai: 91-44-2464 0050, 91-44-2464 0060, Aasra, Mumbai: 9820466726, Fortis MentalHealth: 8376804102)