Humiliated by financier, Ludhiana trader ends life

On July 14, when the family had gone to the victim’s brother’s house, the accused allegedly turned up at the victim’s house and told the neighbours about the debt. The accused allegedly also told the neighbours that if the victim failed to pay back the amount, he would take away his car.

Minutes after celebrating his daughter’s birthday, a 40-year-old trader ended his life by jumping into a canal on late Thursday night. His body was fished out of the canal near Sudhar area on Sunday.

The woman told the police that her husband had borrowed ₹70,000 from the accused for his business. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

A case of abetment to suicide has been lodged against a financier, identified as Prince Kesarwani of Nirmal Nagar, on the complaint of the victim’s wife. The woman told the police that her husband had borrowed ₹70,000 from the accused for his business. However, due to the Covid-induced lockdown that came into effect in March 2020, her husband suffered losses and was unable to pay back the financier.

The accused, however, continued to mount pressure on the victim to return the money. He allegedly added interest on the principal amount and asked the victim to return ₹4 lakh. Due to this, the victim had been stressed for the past several days, his wife said.

On July 14, when the family had gone to the victim’s brother’s house, the accused allegedly turned up at the victim’s house and told the neighbours about the debt. The accused allegedly also told the neighbours that if the victim failed to pay back the amount, he would take away his car. The neighbours narrated the incident to the victim and his family when they returned home on July 15, the day of his daughter’s birthday.

The victim’s wife said that once the birthday celebrations ended, the victim left home around 11pm. Around 11.45pm, he called her up and told her that he was unable to take the insult and humiliation and was going to end his life. He told her to take care of the three daughters and then hung up the phone.

Following this, the woman rushed to look for him and found his car parked near the canal. On Sunday, she was told that his body had been fished out of the canal.

Assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Jaswinder Singh, the investigating officer, said a case under Section 306 (abetment to suicide) was registered against Prince Kesarwani. He is yet to be arrested.