JOHOR BARU: A 71-year-old woman is living in fear after loan sharks splashed red paint at her home and repeatedly harassed her over debts owed by her estranged son.
The victim, known only as Lee, said her ordeal began after her 48-year-old son went missing about a year ago.
“I thought he had gone to work on his motorcycle, but he never returned.
“He left behind his wife, three school-going children and his debt to us,” she said in a press conference on Wednesday (Jan 21).
Lee said the three grandchildren are now living with her, while she is also caring for another grandchild, her daughter’s child, as the daughter works in Singapore.
She said she first began receiving threatening calls from loan sharks around November last year, with her grandchildren eventually blocking the numbers out of fear.
“On Nov 9, I found copies of my son’s MyKad pasted on my house gate, stating that he owed them money and demanding that he pay up,” she said.
Lee said she managed to contact her son two days later, and he admitted to borrowing money from three different loan shark groups, but refused to disclose the total amount involved.
“He only told me to move away for my own safety. But relocating needs a lot of money, which I don’t have. I work as a helper at a hawker stall,” she said.
Then on Jan 10, when she was about to leave for work at around 5am, Lee was shocked to see red paint splashed all over her porch and her daughter-in-law’s car.
Lee added that her daughter-in-law had already paid RM36,000 previously to settle part of her son’s debts.
“She is also still servicing the outstanding housing rent amounting to RM9,000 after discovering that my son had stopped paying rent before fleeing.
“The constant harassment has left us anxious and fearful, especially whenever I receive calls from unknown numbers,” she said, adding that they have temporarily moved to a friend’s house.
She added that the move has added to her financial burden as she has to spend extra on e-hailing services to send her grandchildren to school due to the distance.
Lee said she is also worried that loan sharks may harass her at her workplace, which could cost her job and abilities to take care of her grandchildren.
The senior citizen said she hopes the loan sharks will stop harassing her, adding that she has health issues and does not want her grandchildren’s studies to be disrupted.
“I just want to live peacefully, especially with Chinese New Year coming soon,” she said.
Lee has also sought help from Johor Jaya assemblyman Liow Cai Tung, who urged the loan sharks to go after the borrower instead of harassing a senior citizen and innocent family members.
