Woman kept hostage by loan sharks

Rearing their ugly head yet again, loan sharks allegedly kept a woman hostage for around two hours near Neyyattinkara late on Wednesday.

Bindu, who hails from Kollayil, had to be reportedly freed by officials of the Marayamuttom police station after she was allegedly held captive by the accused, Yashoda of Marayamuttom, at the house of the latter’s relative.

In her formal statement recorded by the police, the complainant said that her husband had borrowed an amount of ₹30,000 from the accused six years ago.

After his death around the same time, the complainant had managed to repay close to ₹65,000 from her savings.

She has been working under the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme for the past few years.

However, the moneylender told the police that Bindu was required to repay close to ₹1.35 lakh under the loan agreement for which documents pertaining to a plot owned by the complainant was kept as collateral.

Bindu was purportedly called to the house on Wednesday in a bid to resolve the issue.

However, she complained that she was detained against her will, threatened and hurled abuses, even while the accused denied such claims to the police. The victim managed to contact a neighbour, who alerted the Marayamuttom police, which rushed to the place and ‘freed’ her by around 9 p.m.

While she complained that another of her neighbours, a CPI(M) activist, was among those who kept her hostage, the police were yet to ascertain the claim.

The police have registered a case on the basis of Bindu’s complaint and a probe has been launched.