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Day after bringing sister’s remains to bank, Odisha man gets her savings of Rs 19,402
A video was widely circulated on social media in which Jitu Munda could be seen placing a sack containing the remains of his sister, Kalara, outside the bank building Monday.
Jitu Munda alleged that he was forced to exhume his dead sister's skeleton because officials repeatedly denied his requests to withdraw his dead sister’s savings. (Credits: Social media/ Express Photo)
A day after a 59-year-old tribal man in Odisha went to a bank with his sister’s skeleton after exhuming her remains to withdraw her Rs 19,300 savings, he was handed over Rs 19,402, including interest, by the bank on Tuesday while the administration assisted him to apply for the legal heir certificate and the medical officer provided him his sister’s death certificate.
A video was widely circulated on social media in which Jitu Munda could be seen placing a sack containing the remains of his sister, Kalara, outside the bank building Monday. He claimed he was compelled to exhume her skeletal remains after bank officials repeatedly denied his request to withdraw his sister’s savings. On Tuesday, after receiving the amount, Jitu said he was happy, adding that his sister’s savings would be distributed among his four siblings.
Expressing concerns over the incident, Odisha CM Mohan Charan Majhi Tuesday ordered a probe into the incident by the Revenue Divisional Commissioner and asked officials to remain sensitive towards people. Also, Keonjhar District Collector Vishal Singh said an inquiry is underway to ascertain if there was any negligence on the part of the administration.
Jitu’s sister married Tadia Munda of Rameikhamar village in Odisha’s Dhenkanal. After her husband died, she along with her child shifted to her paternal home in Keonjhar’s Dianali village, 40 years ago. The child died after some time. Since then, she had been staying with her brothers and one sister until her death on January 26 this year.
Officials of Mallipasi branch of Odisha Grameen Bank had said Monday that Jitu, who had come to the bank for the first time, could neither produce any death certificate nor any papers to establish he was the legal heir. Terming his allegations “baseless”, Satyabrata Nanda, who looked into the matter on behalf of the bank, said, “The allegations levelled by Jitu Munda are baseless because neither he had visited the bank nor he made any request before Monday. This was confirmed after examining the CCTV footage. He was drunk when he came with his sister’s skeletal remains.”
As per banking rules, if the account holder dies, the person seeking to withdraw money has to produce a death certificate and a legal heir certificate. Susant Kumar Sethi, manager of Mallipasi branch of Odisha Grameen Bank, said he explained the rules to Jitu when he came to the bank. “He was furious and due to lack of awareness about banking procedures, he brought his sister’s exhumed remains on the bank premises,” Sethi said.
After the video emerged, the Keonjhar district administration sanctioned Rs 30,000 to Jitu from the district Red Cross Fund on humanitarian grounds.
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Keonjhar District Collector Vishal Singh has said, “…Instructions have been issued to local administrative officers to be sensitive and to easily provide government and banking facilities to people in remote areas.”
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