The Canada Dream Turned Nightmare: Moga Man's Tragic Suicide Amidst Crushing Debt and Deceit

Moga, Punjab – The pursuit of a better life abroad often comes with dreams woven in gold, but for 35-year-old Harpreet Singh of Moga, that dream tragically culminated in an unbearable nightmare of debt and despair. Buried under a crushing Rs 42 lakh burden, Harpreet took his own life, leaving behind a family shattered and a chilling testament to the predatory practices of unscrupulous agents and financiers preying on the aspirations of Punjab's youth.

The tragedy unfolded after Harpreet, like countless others in the region, harbored a fervent desire to migrate to Canada.

In 2021, he entrusted his future, and his family’s savings, to Kulwinder Singh, a local travel agent, who promised to secure a Canadian visa. The initial sum agreed upon was a staggering Rs 30 lakh. To fulfill this, Harpreet’s parents sold their precious land and took out significant loans, pouring every last resource into their son’s future.

However, the agent's promises proved to be a cruel deception.

After accepting the hefty payment, Kulwinder Singh allegedly provided Harpreet with fraudulent documents. When the sham was exposed, and with the family’s persistent pleas, the agent eventually returned only Rs 10 lakh, leaving a colossal Rs 20 lakh still unaccounted for. This initial betrayal was just the beginning of Harpreet's descent into an inescapable financial quagmire.

To bridge the gap and keep the Canada dream alive, Harpreet was forced to turn to a local financier, Rajwinder Singh.

What started as a desperate solution quickly spiraled into a predatory trap. Rajwinder Singh lent Harpreet the required funds, but not without securing blank cheques and, more alarmingly, the family’s property papers as collateral. The terms were draconian, and the interest rates exorbitant. The original Rs 20 lakh quickly ballooned to an insurmountable Rs 22 lakh in interest alone, bringing the total debt from the financier to Rs 42 lakh.

The constant pressure and threats from the financier became unbearable.

Harpreet found himself trapped in a vicious cycle, hounded by demands for repayment he couldn't possibly meet. The weight of the debt, the dashed hopes, and the immense pressure to provide for his family, despite the deception, slowly eroded his spirit.

In his final, heartbreaking act, Harpreet Singh left a suicide note, clearly detailing the circumstances that led him to this tragic decision.

His note explicitly named Kulwinder Singh, the agent, and Rajwinder Singh, the financier, as the individuals responsible for his plight. Following the discovery of the note and the family’s subsequent complaint, the Moga police swiftly registered a case against both men.

A police spokesperson confirmed that cases have been filed under Sections 306 (abetment to suicide) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code against Kulwinder Singh and Rajwinder Singh.

Investigations are currently underway to gather further evidence and bring justice to Harpreet’s grieving family.

Harpreet Singh’s death serves as a stark and painful reminder of the dark underbelly of the immigration industry. It underscores the urgent need for stringent regulations, public awareness campaigns against fraud, and greater support systems for individuals who fall victim to such exploitative schemes.

For one family in Moga, the dream of Canada has been irrevocably stained by an unimaginable loss, leaving behind a void that no amount of justice can ever truly fill.