Harassed by microfin agents, woman dies by suicide in Belagavi

Belagavi: A woman died by suicide by jumping in an open well following harassment allegedly by the agents of a microfinance company for loan repayment. The incident occurred at Kakati village on the outskirts of the city on Thursday.The deceased is Saroja Kirabi, 52, a native of Shirur village of Hukkeri taluk, and a resident of Kakati. Her son has registered a complaint at Kakati police station against Holeppa Daddi, holding him responsible for Saroja's death.According to the complaint, Holeppa Daddi of Yamanapur had availed a loan of Rs 2.3 lakh from microfinance in the name of Saroja. The documents were signed by Saroja. He paid half of the loan amount to Saroja — claiming it a subsidy — and kept the rest with himself, assuring her that he would pay all the loan instalments.However, he stopped paying monthly instalments after a few months, after which the agents of microfinance company started harassing Saroja for loan repayment. Due to continued harassment, Saroja took the extreme step. There are allegations against Holeppa about cheating many other women through microfinance companies.Recently, district minister Satish Jarkiholi stated that around 40 microfinance institutions in the Belagavi district were found to have cheated around 15,000 people through self-help groups and microfinance companies. The estimated fraud is to the tune of around Rs 100 crore. A team comprising three officials was formed to investigate the scam, and some of the accused have already been taken into custody.