BIRGUNJ: The District Administration Office (DAO) Parsa has so far addressed 438 cases related to loansharking.

Parsa’s Assistant Chief District Officer, Shiba Prasad Lamsal, said they received a total of 1,321 complaints through the online registrations and sorted out 438 through mutual discussions, bringing justice to the victims.

In lack of mutual understanding, legal proceedings have been initiated for two cases.

The majority of complaints revolved around issues related to borrowing of money and land.

In some cases, the victims were deceived during the loan acquisition process. In documents, they took more loans than they actually received.

It may be noted that in July of this year, the parliament passed the Bill, recognizing usury, primarily prevalent in the Terai region, as a criminal offence.

This legislative move came in response to a five-point agreement reached between the government and victims of loan sharks in April.