Woman lawyer harassed by loan recovery agents in Ggm; cops file case

A lawyer in Gurugram was harassed and threatened by loan recovery agents for more than four months after a neighbour put her number on loan documents without her authorization. The agents assumed she was the borrower's wife and continued to harass her until the borrower's parents paid the outstanding amount. An FIR was registered against the agents under Section 34 and 509 of the IPC.

A woman lawyer was allegedly harassed, abused and threatened by loan recovery agents for more than four months over the phone after a neighbour put her contact number in an unauthorised manner on the documents, showing her as the reference person while applying for a loan, Gurugram police said on Wednesday.

Woman lawyer harassed by loan recovery agents in Ggm; cops file case

Police said the neighbour lives on the ground floor of the same building in Palam Vihar in which the lawyer resides.

The 35-year-old victim started receiving calls from December 13 last year, and the harassment continued till last month, police added.

Investigators said the borrower had taken a loan against a credit card from a private firm. They said he had only made a partial repayment and an amount of ₹40,000 was still pending and recovery agents were searching for him.

A senior police officer said that when the firm authorities could neither trace him at his residence nor reach him over the phone, they took out the reference number provided by him. “However, the number was of the woman lawyer’s and probably it was never verified by the private firm,” he said.

“When she started receiving calls, it took her some time to comprehend the matter. After a few calls, it became clear that her neighbour had taken a loan and put her number in the documents. The agents had assumed that she was probably his wife,” the officer added.

Police said the lawyer made the agents talk to the suspect’s parents, but her efforts remained futile.

On the basis of the victim’s complaint, an FIR was registered against the agents under Section 34 (common intention) and 509 (intending to insult the modesty of any woman) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Palam Vihar police station on Tuesday, police said.

The victim alleged in the FIR that she could not even work or attend court proceedings as the recovery agents kept on harassing her.

Investigators said the phone calls stopped after the neighbour recently cleared the pending amount when she made his parents understand that it would cause legal trouble for their son.

Subhash Boken, public relations officer of the Gurugram police, said they are trying to trace the agents with the help of the numbers used for calling the victim.