RAWALPINDI: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), cyber-crime wing, swung into action after a man committed suicide by hanging himself from the ceiling of his house in Allama Iqbal Colony, on Tuesday after failing to repay interest on a loan he had borrowed from an App.

The FIA team, headed by Deputy Director Cyber Crime Tahir Jamil and Additional Director Abdul Rauf visited the family of the suicide victim and registered a case after recording their statements. The FIA will also look into different possibilities as it was a case where the victim was being threatened.

Mohammad Masood, 44, recorded his statement before killing himself in which he narrated the motive behind the ‘extreme step’ he was taking due to threats from the lenders.

“I had borrowed a large sum of money on interest. I could not be a good father, husband and son in my life, therefore, forgive me,” the suicide victim said in an audio. He further said: “I wanted to sell my house to repay the borrowed money but I could not do so.”

Mohammad Masood, a father of two, had obtained a loan of Rs130,000 through an online app on interest since he lost his job as a salesman at a shoe shop in Saddar.

Muzamil Hussain, brother of the victim, told Dawn that his brother had obtained a loan since he lost his job and had already paid Rs600,000 to the lender as an interest.

He said despite his brother being no more in the world, the lender were still calling his family to pay the remaining amount.

Muzamil Hussain said the FIA team recorded their statements and left the house, saying that they were going after the lenders. He demanded the government and FIA to ban such online apps so that they could not trap other innocent people.

Published in Dawn, July 13th, 2023