It was supposed to be the beginning of a new chapter for two people, who loved each other deeply and struggled for months to convince their families to let them marry despite being from different castes.
On December 7, 47 days after Sureda Narendra (21) and Akhila Devi (24) tied the knot, a Rs 2,000 loan taken through a mobile app turned their household upside down.
“Narendra and his father are fishermen. But fishermen have been without livelihood for nearly two months now because of the weather. We don’t know if he really needed the money, because his wife Akhila also works. We are still investigating whether he borrowed only Rs 2,000 or more. He had taken the Rs 2,000 loan last month but had not repaid, due to which the loan agents started calling him up,” inspector B Bhaskar Rao of Maharanipeta police station, Visakhapatnam, told The Indian Express.
“Later the loan agents acquired a photo of his wife and morphed it into a nude image, which they sent to him and all the contacts in his phone book, mentioning a ‘price’. When their relatives started calling up, Akhila understood what had happened, and quickly repaid the entire Rs 2,000. But the agents kept circulating the morphed photo. Narendra could not take the humiliation and committed suicide,” Rao said. “We are taking the help of the Cyber Police to track down the loan app and the agents who harassed them.”
Akhila, who works as a nurse’s assistant, was not home when he took his life. His mother and elder sister were in a separate part of the house, but did not know what had happened until Akhila returned in the evening.
“In spite of paying off the loan with interest, the agents kept up the harassment. They got access to all his contacts and started spreading the morphed photo. He was a sensitive and caring person. He could not tolerate the humiliation. He loved his wife very much and had taken a stand to marry her against everyone’s wishes,” said his father Ankayya.
Police have filed a case under Section 108 of the BNS (abetment of suicide) and relevant sections of the IT Act.
This is the second incident involving loan apps in two days. Police in Nandyala said a young girl who took a Rs 15,000 loan through an app attempted suicide and was rescued just in the nick of time.
Despite repaying five times the amount, she was threatened that her personal photos would be posted online, police said. Unable to cope, she went to Srisailam and jumped from a 20 feet high forest fence to end her life. Cops stationed at Srisailam police jumped in and rescued her, provided treatment, and safely handed her over to her parents.
The Andhra Pradesh Police have issued an advisory, which urges the public to be cautious when using loan apps. “Verify their legitimacy and avoid sharing personal information. If you receive threats, report to the police immediately,” it states.
