Andhra Pradesh woman drowns self after losing ₹1.2L on fake loan app

According to the police, several cases of online fraud have been reported in the state, but this is the first case in which someone has died by suicide after being scammed.

Voice message to mother

“She sent a voice message to her mother on Whatsapp around 8 pm, informing her that she was at Chillakallu Cheruvu and was going to end her life as she was under extreme stress,” Chillakallu sub-inspector Chinnababu told reporters.

“The parents rushed to Chillakallu soon after getting the message and reported it to us. We launched a search operation with the help of divers as we learnt about the message,” he added.

Swetha Chowdary Jasthi, 22 year old techie drowns after losing money to fake online loan Apps (Supplied)

“Jasthi’s body was retrieved on Sunday and has been sent to the Jaggaiahpet Government Hospital for autopsy,” he told South First.

Her parents told reporters that their daughter had been working from home for the past three months, and that she was to travel to Hyderabad on Monday to join a software company.

The police said Swetha was tricked by a fraudster whom she had met online.

“The conman encouraged Swetha to invest money in the fraud app. He first invested ₹50,000 to show the benefits. On seeing the returns, Swetha invested around ₹1.2 lakh in the app, after which the conman disappeared,” they added.

“We are still investigating, and it will be too early to say anything,” said the cops.

Women’s commission intervenes

Vasireddy Padma, AP Women’s Commission Chairperson. (Twitter: @padma_vasireddy)

The Andhra Pradesh Women’s Commission has said it has taken cognizance of the incident.

Chairperson Vasireddy Padma, in a statement, expressed concern over the increasing number of cybercrimes against women in the state.

The commission has asked the cyberpolice and the local police to submit to it a report on this case at the earliest, the statement said.