A woman from East Kaulikura village under the Gournagar block in Tripura’s Unakoti district died by suicide after reportedly being unable to repay escalating microfinance loans, police confirmed on Saturday.
According to Pratibha Sinha, Officer-in-Charge of the Kailashahar Women’s Police Station, the victim, Anjana Malakar, had taken loans from multiple microfinance institutions but was unable to keep up with repayments. “She had borrowed from several agencies and could no longer rotate the debt. Under immense pressure, she ended her life,” the officer said.
Anjana, a resident of Ward No. 3 under Kaulikura Gram Panchayat, lived with her husband, Parimal Malakar. Both worked as daily wage labourers and struggled with poverty. Villagers said that due to the lack of regular employment, Anjana had borrowed from at least three microfinance companies, including Bandhan and Bharat. She reportedly paid installments whenever work was available, but long stretches without income left her unable to meet the repayment demands.
Locals also alleged that recovery agents from the microfinance firms repeatedly visited her home, adding to her mental burden.
On December 5, Anjana went missing around 4 p.m. Despite her husband’s efforts to search among relatives and neighbours, she could not be found.
The next morning, villagers discovered her body hanging from a tree in a nearby forest. Police were immediately alerted, and the body was recovered by officers from the Kailashahar Women’s Police Station before being sent to Unakoti District Hospital for post-mortem.
The incident has thrown East Kaulikura into mourning and raised serious concerns about the rising financial stress faced by rural households caught in cycles of debt and unemployment.