Canadian household indebtedness, the ratio of household debt to income, currently stands at 153% and is expected to continue to rise. As bad as it is, our borrowing problem stills remains a matter of debt, not death.
It’s a different story for over 200 residents of the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, according to one report.
The blame for fuelling unsustainable levels of indebtedness has been laid firmly at the door of microfinance companies, which offer small loans as a financial leg-up to the poorest of the poor, many of them farmers.
Some of these firms later start to use pressure tactics to get their money back from their borrowers, pushing some so far that they committed suicide to get out of the debt cycle.
One of these companies, SKS Microfinance, has been accused of verbally harassing its delinquent borrowers and publically humiliating them by staging sit-ins outside their homes.
Independent investigations linked SKS employees to multiple cases that ended in suicide. It was reported that among the victims were a woman who drank pesticide for not being able to repay 150,000 rupees ($3,000); a teenager who did the same when forced to pony up 150 rupees ($3) and another delinquent borrower who drowned herself in a pond.
They were allegedly told by their lenders, only in death would the debts be forgiven.