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It was a normal day in the Panditi household. On December 16, software engineer Sunil Panditi was getting ready for his first day at a new job while his wife Ramya Sri was bathing their young son. Sunil was expected to leave the house by 10am, instead he texted his new boss that he wouldnât make it into work. Shortly before 1.30pm Panditi went to his bedroom and took his own life, unable to forget the string of messages that had haunted him for the past week.
The 28-year-old, who lived on the outskirts of the Indian city Hyderabad, had taken out Rs 70,000 ($956) in loans from at least 35 instant loan apps over six months after losing his job during the pandemic. As the date to repay each of his microloans inched closer, he started borrowing from one app to repay the others, but kept falling short. Each deadline piled on more stress. Things got so desperate that he secretly started using his wife Sriâs phone to borrow money.