An Indian man dug up his dead sister’s remains and carried her skeleton through the streets to his local bank branch in a desperate attempt to prove she had died — after staff repeatedly told him to bring the account holder in person before they could release her money.
Jeetu Munda, 50, exhumed the skeletal remains of his elder sister Kalra Munda, who died in January aged 56, after months of failed attempts to withdraw approximately 20,000 rupees — around £165 — from her account at a branch of the Odisha Grameen Bank in the Keonjhar district of Odisha, roughly 180 miles west of Kolkata.
Footage of the incident, reported by the Lokmat Times, shows a shirtless and barefoot Munda carrying the remains wrapped in a shawl through the street in broad daylight before placing them outside the entrance of the bank. Speaking to reporters through a translator, he explained what had driven him to take such an extreme step. “I have run several times to the bank, and the people there told me to bring the account holder to withdraw money deposited in her name,” he said. “Though I told them that she had died, they did not listen to me and insisted on bringing her to the bank. Therefore, out of frustration, I dug up the grave and brought out her skeleton as proof of her death.”
Local police inspector Kiran Prasad Sahu told news agency PTI that Munda, an illiterate tribal man from a rural village, had been unable to understand the legal process required to access a deceased person’s account. “He does not know what the legal heir or nominee is,” Sahu said. “The bank officials have failed to make him understand the procedure to withdraw money from the dead person’s account.”
Bank officials have defended their staff, saying employees correctly informed Munda that he needed to provide a death certificate and legal heir certification before the funds could be released. They noted that Munda had given inconsistent accounts of his sister’s condition, initially saying she was unwell before stating she had died. The bank’s chairman described the episode as “deeply unfortunate” while insisting correct procedures had been followed.
Following the incident, authorities stepped in to help Munda complete the withdrawal process through the appropriate legal channels. His sister’s remains were subsequently reburied under police supervision.
