A ‘suicide’ case caused sensation in Goalpara town on Friday and has left the people in “deep shock”. Thirty-five-year-old Monower Hussain alias Lal chose to commit suicide when he failed to release his wife, daughter and sister from the clutches of a money lender from whom Monower had reportedly taken Rs 10,000.
The money lender Jahangir Alam of Dostinagar in Goalpara (Assam) had lended Rs 10,000 to Monower about a month back at the interest rate of Rs 1,000 per day. Monower could somehow pay the interest amount last month but since he failed to make partial payment of the main principal amount last week, pressure started mounting on him.
On Friday, Monower’s sister Asira Begum -on whose land Monower was staying with his family – was sleeping with her daughter when lender Jahangir Alom’s wife Sajeda Begum came to her place at around 10:30 am. She reportedly asked Asiron to accompany her to her residence as there was something which she wanted to show Monower’s sister.
“I was very reluctant to go to her place but, Sajeda almost dragged me to her house. Thereafter, I was locked up in a room,” stated Asiron. After about half an hour, Monower’s wife Moida Begum was also “by fraud” taken to the money lender’s residence. She was also locked up in the same room with Asiron. Khusbu, Monower’s two-year-old daughter who was with her mother, was also confined in the same room.
“We were handed over white papers with five revenue stamps and they insisted that we sign on it which we refused to do,” informed Asiron. At around 2 pm, Monower Hussain who was not at home, came to know about the incident and arrived at the money lender’s residence. “My brother pleaded repeatedly to give him some more time but nothing cut ice with them. He even beat himself with his own slippers and then gave the slippers to Sajeda Begum to give him a sound thrashing with it and then release us. But, Sajeda Begum, who is also the mother of two, remained unmoved,” narrated Asiron.
A totally dejected and frustrated Monower returned home and hanged himself. One of Monower’s neighbours saw his hanging body and created a commotion and a large number of people gathered. Someone also informed Sajeda, and Asiron and Moida who were confined in the room overheard the same. The duo somehow managed to break open the locked room and rushed home to find Monower hanging.
An FIR was lodged by Monower’s family in the evening at Goalpara Police Station demanding arrest of Jahangir and his wife. The police got down to work and apprehended Sajeda from her house within two hours. However, money lender Jahangir managed to flee.
Monower was driving a coal truck. He lost his job after the National Green Tribunal (NGT) banned rat hole coal mining in neighbouring Meghalaya. Since then, he was living a hand-to-mouth existence and was keeping the home fire burning by selling fish.
Monower’s mother told Northeast Now that her son was “forcibly” taken to Kismatpur and was made to sign on few papers by Jahangir. On Friday, Monower was buried at the Peer Sahab Tila graveyard in the presence of hundreds of people.
