IPOH: A terrified couple has been left living in fear after loan sharks splashed red paint on their home and threatened to burn it down over their son’s RM1,000 online loan—demanding RM15,000 in repayment.
Housewife Chai Yoke Chun, 56, said the harassment began on Aug 19 via phone calls and WhatsApp messages. Two days later at 4.45am, a man splashed red paint over her porch floor and car cover before fleeing.
“Around 9.20am that same morning, a lender named 'Adi' sent us a video of our house and threatened to lock our gates, burn the house, and kill us if we failed to pay RM15,000,” Chai told a press conference organised by Perak Barisan Nasional public service and complaints chief Mohd Rawi Abdullah on Wednesday (Aug 26).
Chai said her 27-year-old son, Lee Kah Cong, confessed to borrowing RM1,000 online on Aug 12 but received only RM600 after platform deductions. He is currently missing after telling his mother he could not afford the repayment.
This is not the first time the family has faced such trouble; they previously settled RM7,000 of his illegal debts last year.
“I cannot take it anymore. We helped him before, but he didn’t listen,” said a distraught Chai, who takes care of a grandchild while her 65-year-old husband is unemployed.
The family has lodged a report at the Sungai Senam police station and installed CCTV cameras. Her eldest son has even returned from Singapore to keep guard outside the house at night.
Mohd Rawi urged the Home Ministry to take stern action against illegal moneylenders who resort to violent threats against innocent family members.
