DNA Special: How Chinese loan app fraud led to tragic murder-suicide of Madhya Pradesh family

A happy and jovial family in Madhya Pradesh ended up falling into a trap constructed by Chinese load apps, which led to their untimely death. An engineer committed suicide by hanging himself by killing his wife and two children in Indore. At the age of feeding their grandchildren in their arms, grandfather and grandfather had to carry their bodies in their laps.

The reason behind the untimely death of the family is the loan apps from which engineer Amit Yadav had taken loans, whose high interest he was not able to pay off. In the end, he was left with no option but to kill his family and commit suicide.

The harrowing suicide note left by Amit Yadav, the engineer who killed his wife and children, testifies against these loan apps designed by Chinese companies. In the suicide note, he blamed the loan taken from loan apps for his move to kill his family and then himself.

In his suicide note, Amit Yadav wrote, “I also have a desire to live, but my situation is no longer like this. I'm not a bad person. It's nobody's fault, it's mine. I have taken loans from many online apps. Such as True Balance, Mobi Pocket, Money View, Smart Coin, Rufilo. But I am not able to repay the loan. I am taking this step out of fear of respect.”

So far, hundreds of people have committed suicide by falling into the trap of loans through apps. More than 15 people have embraced death in several states from Bihar to Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, and Bengal in the recent past. These people had taken a loan with the help of Chinese loan apps and were tortured so much for not being able to repay that they found the path to suicide easier.

Recently, the Cyber Cell of Delhi Police caught a Chinese loan app fraud, arresting 22 people in the case. These loan apps were used to offer money to their clients, and stole the mobile data of thousands of people, blackmailing the people with their personal information.

Different types of loan apps are prepared in China and Hong Kong, which are then put on the Google Play Store. After this, messages are sent to people offering loans immediately on mobile phones, containing the links to fake loan apps.

People who download the loan apps have to give permission to these apps to access their personal data, galleries, and contact list. First, a huge amount is charged from the person taking the loan in the name of processing fees.

After this, the interest rate on the loan is arbitrarily increased which reaches 36 percent. Users who needed 5 to 10 thousand are charged up to one lakh rupees, but the game doesn't end there. Even after repaying the loan, more money is demanded from the users.

Millions of people have been looted so far due to the greed of instant loan apps. This business of loan apps gangs had increased a little more during the Corona pandemic because due to the prolonged lockdown, people had lost their jobs.

Now, RBI has taken a big step against digital lending platforms involved in illegal activities, and strict guidelines have been issued for giving digital loans. As per the guidelines, no digital lending company i.e. loan app will be able to distribute the loan without the consent of the customer nor will it be able to extend the loan repayment period.

According to the new guidelines, now only companies or loan apps registered with RBI will be able to give digital loans to customers. Instant loan apps can't charge any hidden charges from their customers. Further, no digital lending company will store customers' personal information. Apart from this, after the completion of the loan repayment, the company will have to delete the entire record related to the customer.

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