Kuala Lumpur, May 29 (Inditop): Malaysian Indian Business Association president P. Sivakumar has called on the federal government to intervene and stop the heinous practice of offering wives and daughters to loan sharks as exchange for repayment of debts.
Sivakumar made this plea after he was made aware of a case where a woman, who stood guarantor for the RM18,000 loan, was now saddled with debts of RM36,000.
“She is forced to be a slave of the loan shark as no one is willing to help,” the New Strait Times quoted Sivakumar, as saying.
He called on the authorities to establish an arbitrary organization to help in similar cases.
Jaringan Rakyat Tertindas coordinator Y. Kohila said although it was not advisable to seek out loan sharks, many, especially retrenched workers, had no other option.
“What we need is swift government intervention to assist those with financial needs. Those saddled with loan shark problems must be provided with proper avenues to settle their debts,” Kohila said.
MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Michael Chong said he had highlighted many cases of families being victimized by loan sharks.
Although this is tantamount to prostituting the women, the loan sharks had little choice but to use them as collateral when all other avenues to recover the debts failed.
Rather than get hounded or beaten up, some of the defaulters’ families gave in, Chong said.
