Disturbing scenes emerged in Odisha’s Keonjhar district where a man took his late sister’s skeletal remains to a bank after repeated attempts to access her savings failed. The incident took place on April 27 at Maliposi branch of Odisha Grameen Bank in Patana block.
Jeetu Munda, 50, a resident of Dianali village, was trying to pull out ₹20,000 from the account of his elder sister Kalra Munda (56), who died on January 25 this year.
After the death of her husband and only son, Kalra returned to her parental home where she had a savings account and deposited money regularly. After her death almost two months ago, the family performed her last rites and buried her close to their home.
Read also | ‘Pleased to inform’: This death letter has a bizarre beginning. Read
Frustration led to an extreme step
In the weeks following her death, Jeetu visited the bank several times with his passbook and tried to withdraw money. He claimed that the officials rejected his request and allegedly asked him to produce the account holder in person.
Read also | Man forces human faeces into woman’s mouth over crop dispute in Odisha
Explaining his actions, Jeetu said, “Several times I ran to the bank and the people there told me to bring the account holder to withdraw the money deposited in her name. Even when I told them that she had died, they did not listen to me and insisted on bringing her to the bank. So out of frustration, I dug a grave and brought out her skeleton as proof of her death.”
The government ordered action against the bank’s employees
Odisha Minister Suresh Pujari strongly condemned the incident and said action would be taken against those responsible.
“I have spoken to the administration about this. Action needs to be taken against the bank employees for this inhuman attitude. I will instruct the senior bank officials not to treat it as an isolated case and punish the accused,” he said.
He further added, “The bank staff did not have the person’s death certificate which prompted the man to dig up the remains of his dead sister. Such an incident has never happened in India. The government has taken serious note of the behavior of the bank staff and will look into the matter at the appropriate level to ensure that the accused are punished.”
Warning: Image may be disturbing to some
Lack of awareness of the legal process
According to Sub-Collector Uma Shankar Dalai, the man was unaware of the legal procedures required to access the funds and acted out of frustration. Officials clarified that Jeetu was not a Class I legal heir and hence the bank demanded documents which he could not provide.
Patana Police Station Senior Inspector Kiran Prasad Sahu said:
“Jeetu is an illiterate tribal man. He does not know what is a legal heir or a legatee. The bank officials failed to explain to him the procedure for withdrawing money from the dead man’s account.”
The authorities are stepping in to solve the matter
The police later intervened and assured Jeet that help would be provided to complete the withdrawal process. The skeletal remains were subsequently reburied in the presence of officials.
Block Development Officer Manas Dandpat said his office had not been asked to certify the legal heir earlier, but confirmed that steps would now be taken to resolve the issue.
Bank sources said the account nominee had also died, leaving Jeetu as the only claimant. The local government has directed the bank to ensure that the funds are released to him in accordance with the rules as soon as possible.
(With inputs from news agencies)
