A farmer in Uttarakhand’s Haridwar died by suicide due to alleged ‘harassment’ by bank officials over loan repayment, the police said, adding that they have booked three bank officials for abetment to suicide.
An FIR was registered against bank manager Harnam Singh, and two other bank officials — Piyush Rana and Gautam — under sections 108 (abetment of suicide), 115 (2) (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), and 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) at Jhabreda police station on Tuesday.
The complainant said his younger brother had taken a loan of ₹4.50 lakh from the Sherpur Khelmau branch of Union Bank of India.
“He had been paying the monthly EMIs on time but missed two instalments due to his mother’s illness. But the bank manager and two other officials frequently visited the house and harassed him. On January 13 around 2pm, all three came to the house and started abusing and beating him. The family members and neighbours intervened to rescue him, and when the bank officials tried to put him into a car, my sister-in-law Nisha gave them ₹10,000 in cash and assured them of repaying the remaining amount within two days,” the complainant said.
He added, “The bank manager told my sister-in-law that ₹10,000 was just to release him and if they don’t pay the entire money soon, they would take away my brother. They harassed my brother to the extent that he consumed poison on January 15. We took him to a nearby hospital where he told doctors that he had consumed poison due to mental harassment by the three bank officials. My brother was then taken to Maa Jagdamba Hospital in Saharanpur (Uttar Pradesh), where he died during treatment around 3am on January 16,” the brother said.
{{/usCountry}}He added, “The bank manager told my sister-in-law that ₹10,000 was just to release him and if they don’t pay the entire money soon, they would take away my brother. They harassed my brother to the extent that he consumed poison on January 15. We took him to a nearby hospital where he told doctors that he had consumed poison due to mental harassment by the three bank officials. My brother was then taken to Maa Jagdamba Hospital in Saharanpur (Uttar Pradesh), where he died during treatment around 3am on January 16,” the brother said.
{{/usCountry}}Jhabreda police station house officer (SHO) Ankur Sharma said they had initiated an investigation but no arrests have been made yet.
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