Mother Of 3 Dies By Suicide In Bihar, Husband Alleges 'Goonda Bank' Terror

A passbook, some pending instalments and a million questions: Pintu Goswami from Bihar's Muzaffarpur has lost his wife Gudiya Devi, 35, to suicide. The mother of three, he alleges, consumed a poisonous pesticide after being harassed by recovery agents of a microfinance company she borrowed money from.

Gudiya, he says, had borrowed money from four separate microfinance companies and paid about Rs 12,500 in monthly instalments. Pintu lives in Sheikhpura, nearly 164 km from Muzaffarpur, and works in construction. On Wednesday, Gudiya called Pintu and asked him to send Rs 2,500. He could not. Hours later, Gudiya was dead.

"My wife took a loan. We were paying it back gradually. They (recovery agents) would come and harass her. This firm loans money only to women. People borrow for building homes and sending children to school," said Pintu.

He said they had borrowed around Rs 1.5 lakh. "Most of it had been paid back. A few instalments were left. But my wife consumed poison. I was in Sheikhpura. I found out that the recovery person had come. Something must have happened. We had no problems at home," he added.

Gudiya Devi is not alone. Earlier this month, Amarnath Ram and his three children died in Muzaffarpur in a suicide plan hatched by him. In the aftermath of the incident, some reports claimed he was under pressure to return money he borrowed from microfinance companies.

There is no official data on suicides due to harassment by loan recovery agents. Most borrowers from microfinance firms are from an underprivileged section of society, which explains why their harassment and intimidation go unheard. Over a one-and-half-year period, as many as 20 suicides have been linked to loans from microfinance firms. There is, however, no official confirmation of this figure. Many of these companies are not registered microfinance firms and are run by criminals or politicians, earning them the name 'goonda banks'. 

Bihar Tops Country In Microfinance Loans

According to data from Sa-Dhan, a self-regulatory organisation for microfinance firms, Bihar has over 2 crore microfinance loan accounts - the highest in the country. These accounts amount to a loan of Rs 57, 712 crore - also the highest in the country.

This effectively means that every borrower owes an average of Rs 28,525 to a microfinance firm. On the district level, the country's 10 districts with the maximum loan from microfinance companies include five from Bihar.

The Recovery Horror

Meena Tiwari, the president of the CPIML wing, All India Progressive Women's Association, explained why microfinance firms are pushing borrowers to the edge.

"Authorities have no control over these companies. They lure women into borrowing money and tell them that they can take a loan and start their own business. But the amount is not enough to start a business. Later, these companies start harassing women to pay back. They are pushed to the edge, and some are driven to suicide.

The Many Deaths, And State Assurance

Twenty suicides in the past one-and-a-half years have been linked to microfinance companies. The cases span across Darbhanga, Saharasa, Begusarai, Patna, Saran, Muzaffarpur, and Munger. The victims include both men and women.

In fact, two employees of a microfinance firm in Patna died by suicide in March. One of the employees, Ananya, left behind a note: "The company is not good. It doesn't matter to them if someone dies."

The state government has now ordered strict action against these loan sharks. Earlier, Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary had warned these firms. Bihar's Director General of Police Vinay Kumar has now said loan sharks operate like a "mafia", charge exorbitant rates and force vulnerable people into extreme distress. "Such exploitative practices will not be tolerated. The police will take firm action against those involved in this," he said.