The suicide of Abhirami, the 20-year-old who ended her life after Kerala Bank affixed an attachment notice on her house, triggered widespread protests across the State on Wednesday.
The second-year degree student committed suicide on Tuesday, distressed over the incident. Abhirami’s father had taken a loan of ₹10 lakh from the Patharam branch of the bank for constructing their home and allegedly the bank authorities refused to extend the deadline for repayment despite repeated requests.
He had defaulted on repayment after the family fell on hard times during the pandemic. When Abhirami ended her life, both her parents were at the bank requesting officials for some more time to repay the loan.
Abhirami, along with her family, was attending a funeral when the bank authorities came to affix the notice in front of her house. “It was our neighbour who informed us. Though we rushed straight to the bank, the manager was not there. When my daughter saw the notice, she asked me to remove it and I told her we cannot do that. When she insisted I once again went to the bank and by the time we returned, she had left us,” said her father.
According to neighbours, the bank officials were requested not to publicly humiliate the family and provide them some more time to settle the loan.
Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal, who visited Abhirami’s home on Wednesday, said a detailed probe would be conducted.
While various organisations staged protests against the bank, Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan wrote to the Chief Minister and Minister for Cooperation V.N. Vasavan demanding government intervention in stopping financial institutions, including Kerala Bank, from going ahead with foreclosure proceedings.
“Abhirami’s father Ajikumar is an expatriate who lost his job during COVID-19. If the bank had granted some grace period, the family would have repaid the amount. Considering the special post-pandemic scenario, banks should take a more compassionate stance. Financial institutions, including Kerala Bank, which is touted as Kerala’s own bank, should be willing to suspend the foreclosure proceedings,” he said.
Meanwhile, Gopi Kottamurikkal, president of Kerala Bank, said it was only a normal procedure and the first step of recovery measures. “A comprehensive probe should be held to find the reason for the suicide,” he said.
