If you thought Virginia’s payday lenders were bad, things could be a lot worse! India, with its growing economy, is experiencing a bank-led consumer lending boom. As in the United States, some borrowers fall behind in their repayments. Even in India, it appears, some people get caught on a treadmill of indebtedness. But in India, banks have a quaint way of collecting their debts: They beat people.
Today’s Wall Street Journal describes the fate that befell Vinod Kumar, a 21-year-old college student who was sitting in a friend’s car listening to the radio. A stranger suddenly pulled him out of the car, beat him with an iron bar and left him with 12 stitches and a 10-day hospital stay. Writes the Journal: “Mr. Kumar’s attacker was a goonda — a thug — working on behalf of one of India’s largest banks.”
India’s lawmakers may well put the goondas out of business. Here in Virginia, we may well give them a new lease on life. If we abolish payday lending in Virginia, where will poor people raise emergency cash? From Rocko and Guido (or their ethnic counterparts here in the Old Dominion) who operate outside the rule of law. Don’t be surprised if Virginia emergency rooms see a sudden rise in patients with broken kneecaps.
(Photo cutline: Poster art from the Hindi movie, “Goonda.” Photo credit: Vendithera Pay Per View.)