Advertisement
Mahesh Yadav, 55, died in a village in the eastern state of Bihar after a lengthy illness, leaving no family. His body was found by neighbours several hours later, officials told AFP.
The villagers searched his home for valuables to pay for his funeral, but unable to find any, they instead took his bank passbook that showed he had $1,600 in his account.
That afternoon, they took the passbook – and Yadav’s corpse – to his bank, refusing to leave until the branch manager released his funds, local police officer Amrendar Kumar said.
Related Articles
Advertisement
“It put pressure on the bank, which finally released some money following the intervention of the local police station.”
Canara Bank’s branch manager Sanjeev Kumar said the extraordinary scenes created panic.
“It was the first such case,” Kumar told AFP.
“After over an hour, I gave them money ($135) and they finally left the bank with his body for the cremation ground.”
Neighbour Shakuntala Devi said Yadav did not own any land and did not receive any support from the government.
“There was no-one to look after him although he had been ailing for months. We used to provide him cooked food and other things,” she told AFP.
AFP