A petition was filed with the district collector on behalf of the Madurai Women's Association on Tuesday against a private micro accounting company, seeking an extension of the installment period till March 2021, alleging that homeless women were being harassed into paying their outstanding debt.
"This micro accounting firm operates in the name of thousands of self-help groups in the Madurai district and many women have borrowed several thousand rupees from them. The COVID-19 curfew has hit their livelihoods and many have not been able to repay the debts. Several women have been harassed because of this," Saskala, the district president of the Madurai Women's Association said.
"We request the authorities to extend the deadline for the loan repayment to March 2021," she added.
The COVID-19 lockdown has been extended in Tamil Nadu till August 31 as part of its efforts to contain the spread of the deadly virus, the state government announced on July 30.
Tamil Nadu's COVID-19 count currently stands at 2,63,222 positive cases, including 2,02,283 recoveries and 4,241 deaths.
( With inputs from ANI )