The Kerala police on Thursday moved to question officers of a nationalised bank in connection with the investigation into the debt-related suicide of Lekha, 44, and her daughter, Vaishnavi, 19, at their home at Maraimuttom in Neyyatinkara early this week.
Meanwhile, at least three bank officers involved in the case had reportedly moved the court for anticipatory bail.
Investigators said they believed that mounting pressure from bank officials to repay ₹5 lakh housing loan mortgage had intensified an internecine dispute within the family over the sale of the property to settle the long-standing arrears.
The bank had served them a repossession notice on Friday against the counsel of the local MLA C.K. Hareendran. He had advised the bank to give the family more time to sell the plot, shift to another location before taking possession of their home in lieu of the unpaid loan.
The police said they wanted to know what prompted the bank officials to take such a quick step to recover a relatively small loan that had been pending since 2005.
Investigators said the bank notice appeared to be the last straw and the mother-daughter duo feared they would be rendered homeless. They said the bank officials had doggedly called Lekha and even contacted a prospective buyer for their property to know what price he had offered.
Investigators said the suicide note had not blamed the bank authorities. However, they could not discount the backdrop of financial trouble the victims faced at the time of their death. Hence, they have sought bank records related to the case.
The note has given the police an insight into the distress the victims faced at home. Accordingly, the police have charged Lekha’s husband R. Chandran, his mother, sister and brother-in-law on the charge of abetting the suicides.
The deaths had brought into sharp focus the questionable lending practices of nationalised banks. Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac said scores of families faced a similar situation and he would take up their case with the banker's committee.
