Kanpur, July 31 -- In an incident that raises questions over coercive loan recovery practices, a Jhansi man has accused a private microfinance company of illegally detaining his wife over his alleged loan defaults. The woman was released only after police intervention nearly four hours later.

The complainant, Ravindra Verma, a resident of Poonch area in Jhansi, has submitted a written complaint at the Moth police station. He alleged that the employees of a private group-based lending institution, located in Azad Nagar of Bamharoli village, allegedly held his wife hostage inside their office premises after he failed to pay the remaining instalments of a small personal loan.

According to Verma, he had taken a loan of Rs.40,000 from the mi...