Family Blames NGO Loan Pressure for Mother-Daughter Deaths
Family members wail in grief over the deaths of a mother and daughter.
A mother and daughter died within five days of each other in Dohar, Dhaka. Their family alleges that pressure, intimidation, and verbal abuse by NGO officials attempting to recover a loan contributed to both deaths. The NGO has denied the allegations. The deceased were Lovely Akter and her mother, Rehana Begum, both residents of the Khalpar area.
According to the family, Lovely, the widow of the late Sheikh Shahid of Khalpar, took out a loan of Tk 300,000 a year ago from the Botia branch of an NGO called Rural Construction Newnation to send her son to Saudi Arabia. For several months, her son was unable to send money regularly because of the war situation, leaving her unable to repay the loan. The family claims NGO officials subsequently subjected her to various forms of pressure.
Unable to keep up with installment payments, Lovely went to her mother's home out of fear. On June 24, after learning that she was staying there, an NGO official allegedly arrived with police officers and threatened her with arrest. The family says she fell ill that same day. She was taken to a hospital in the evening, where doctors declared her dead.
The family alleges that before they could recover from the shock of Lovely Akter’s death, NGO representatives began pressuring her mother, Rehana Begum, over the outstanding loan. Before Monday evening, NGO personnel reportedly went to Nagerkanda and threatened police action if the money was not repaid. Rehana Begum subsequently became ill. Doctors pronounced her dead after she was taken to Dohar Upazila Health Complex. Police later recovered the body and sent it to Dhaka for an autopsy.
Rois Laskar, a resident of the Nagerkanda area, said, “The deaths of a mother and daughter within five days is a tragic incident. Cases of people falling ill and dying out of fear because of the behavior of NGO officials are not new. The government should take action on this issue.”
Nurul Islam, Rehana Begum’s son, claimed, “My mother knew nothing about the loan. Even so, NGO representatives came to our house, treated her very badly, and threatened her with police action. My mother and sister became ill and died because they could not withstand the pressure from NGO officials. I want justice for their deaths.”
Rejecting the allegations, Anwar Zahid, branch manager of Rural Construction Newnation, said, “Borrower Lovely Akter defaulted on the loan six months ago. We made various attempts to recover the money but failed. After Lovely died, we went to her mother’s house to obtain a death certificate so we could arrange for the loan to be written off. We did not put any pressure on the family for money.”
Dohar Police Station Officer-in-Charge Abu Bakar Siddique said, “Police recovered the bodies and sent them to Dhaka for autopsies. We will take legal action after receiving the reports.”
Dohar Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Md. Maeedul Islam said authorities would investigate the NGO and take necessary action if the affected family submits a written complaint.
