A 45-year-old woman allegedly committed suicide by hanging at her house in Tiruvannamalai on Monday evening. While her husband, Sekar, 55, in his complaint, said that she took the extreme step after a few staff of a private bank approached her seeking repayment of loan, police officials said she was dejected due to personal reasons.
Thenmozhi, a resident of Pallavan Nagar in Tiruvannamalai, was part of a self help group and had obtained a loan of ₹27,000 from a private bank in March 2017. As her husband was ill and not going to work, she worked as a daily wage labourer. The couple has two daughters.
Sekar, in his complaint to the Tiruvannamalai East police, said Thenmozhi was paying ₹2,700 as monthly due towards the loan. She was unable to pay the dues since October as she could not go for work on account of his poor health which required frequent hospital visits.
On the evening of January 8, a few staff of the bank approached Thenmozhi and asked her to pay the dues. While she requested them for 10 days time, the staff had reportedly told her to pay the dues for at least two months, Sekar said in the complaint. Thenmozhi went inside the house and locked herself in a room. As she did not return even after 15 minutes, Sekar called for help and broke open the door and found her hanging.
However, the police officials denied that she was harassed by the bank staff. “She availed a loan under self help group scheme from a unit of a private bank. The staff of the unit conducted routine visits to check the proper utility of the loans. They had approached a few other women in the same area seeking payment of dues,” a police official said.
He said that they asked Thenmozhi to pay the dues and did not “compel” or “threaten” her. “Thenmozhi’s husband is not well. She was dejected due to personal reasons, and hence took the step,” he said.
People in need of counselling can contact the State Health Department’s round-the-clock helpline – 104. Chennai based Sneha suicide prevention centre can be contacted at 044-24640050.
