By Binay Karna,Saptari, (Kalayanpur), Aug. 7: “Where do I go for justice now?”
For 62-year-old Tetari Khatun of Khadak Municipality-9 in Saptari, the question is no longer just a personal plea.
It reflects the anguish of many victims who say they have fallen into the trap of a loan shark and are still struggling to reclaim what they lost.
Despite repaying more than the amount she borrowed, Khatun says she has been unable to recover the house and land she pledged as collateral. Instead, she later discovered that the property had already been transferred to another person’s name. Since then, she has been moving from one government office to another, District Administration Office, District Police Office and Area Police Office, hoping someone will finally listen.
Nearly a decade ago, Khatun had borrowed Rs. 200,000 from Madhav Prasad Sah of Rajbiraj-7 to pay for her elder brother’s medical treatment. Trusting the lender, she mortgaged her house and one-and-a-half katthas of land and signed several documents.
As her financial situation gradually improved, she says she repaid the loan in instalments, more than Rs. 350,000 in total. Yet, according to her, the collateral documents were never returned.
“I kept asking for my land back, but I was always given one excuse or another,” she recalled. When she later checked with the Land Revenue Office, she says she was shocked to learn that the property had already been transferred to someone else.
Speaking to journalists in Rajbiraj on Thursday, Khatun struggled to hold back tears as she narrated her ordeal.
“I lost everything because I trusted them. Please help me get justice,” she appealed.
Over the past two years, she says she has filed five complaints with the unfair lending section of the District Police Office and six applications with the District Administration Office’s anti-usury unit. However, she alleges that little has happened beyond official correspondence between government offices.
“I have only been submitting applications. Nothing has happened,” she said. The lender, however, rejects the allegations.
Madhav Prasad Sah claims the property was not mortgaged against a loan but was legally purchased in the name of his wife, Sabitri Devi Sah, in 2012/13. He further says the property was sold to another buyer in 2019/20.
“In 2024, a complaint accusing me of usury was filed only to defame me,” Sah said.
Administrative Officer Mona Jha at the District Administration Office, Saptari, has urged Khatun to remain in contact with the office, saying necessary assistance will be provided.
Yet Khatun’s case is far from an isolated one.
In recent years, several residents of Saptari, including Om Prakash Chhetri and Sita Chhetri of Rajbiraj, and Sanjeev Mishra of Chhinnamasta Rural Municipality, have reported losing property after falling into similar debt disputes.
Many others continue to queue outside police stations and administrative offices, carrying files thick with applications, hoping that years of paperwork will one day lead to justice.
For Tetari Khatun, every visit to a government office carries the same unanswered question: after repaying the debt, why is she still paying the price?
The Rising Nepal
