A desperate villager dug up his sister’s corpse and hauled it to an Indian bank after staff reportedly refused to release her cash without her being present
A desperate man dug up his sister’s decomposing remains and hauled them to a bank to prove she was actually dead. The grim incident unfolded at the Maliposi branch of the Odisha Grameen Bank in India’s Keonjhar district after the villager was reportedly told he couldn’t touch a penny of his late sibling’s cash without her being there in the flesh.
Jeetu Munda, a tribal villager from Dianali, had spent weeks trying to access INR 19,300 (£151) from the account of his elder sister, Kalra, who passed away following an illness in January.
Despite Kalra being dead for months, Jeetu claimed bank staff wouldn’t budge on their strict rules.
While the bank reportedly asked for a death certificate, the illiterate villager allegedly struggled to navigate the complex red tape required to release the funds.
Losing his cool on Monday (April 27) Jeetu headed to the village burial ground with a shovel.
He exhumed his sister’s body, wrapped the remains in a cloth and embarked on a gruesome 3km (1.8 mile) trek to the bank branch.
Customers and bank workers were left horrified when the man dumped the corpse outside the front doors.
Police from the Patana Station attended the scene to deal with the macabre sight. Officers noted that Jeetu simply didn’t understand how the modern world worked.
One officer said: “He is an illiterate tribal man and does not know about legal heir or nominee procedures.”
The officer added that the bank had failed to properly walk the grieving man through the necessary steps.
Speaking to local reporters, a fed-up Jeetu claimed he had been driven to the edge by bank staff who allegedly demanded the account holder appear in person, despite him telling them she was six feet under.
Jeetu said: “Out of frustration, I dug the grave and brought her remains as proof of death.”
The nightmare finally came to an end when officials stepped in, promising that the cash would be released through the proper legal channels.
It is believed Jeetu is the sole surviving claimant to the money, as the original nominee on the account has also died. The sister’s remains have since been reburied under the watchful eye of the police.
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