Keonjhar (Odisha), April 28 (IANS) Social workers, tribal and BJP leaders on Tuesday expressed deep sadness over an incident in which a poor man exhumed his deceased sister’s skeleton and staged a protest in front of a rural bank to recover her deposited money.

Engineer Binod Bihari Nayak, a social worker, told IANS, “It is a very sad incident. The bank officials could have explained the procedure more clearly. The man is not educated, and when he was asked to produce a death certificate, he did not understand how to obtain one.”

He added, “After trying everything and failing, he resorted to digging up the body. As far as I know, the administration is now working swiftly to resolve the issue. I hope the matter is settled as soon as possible.”

Ram Ray Mundiya, Vice President of the Odisha Adivasi Mahasangh, said, “This is extremely unfortunate. Perhaps the bank officials did not guide him properly. If they had responded more sensitively, he would not have taken such a step.”

BJP MP Balabhadra Majhi also expressed concern, stating that the situation could have been handled more responsibly by the bank authorities.

The incident occurred on Monday afternoon around 1 P.M. in Mallipasi village under Patna police station limits. The man brought the skeleton of his sister to the bank premises, causing panic among the staff, who immediately informed the police. Upon receiving the information, a police team reached the spot. After discussions, the man agreed to take back the remains and re-bury them, respectfully.

According to police, the man’s sister had died two months ago and had a bank account with a deposit of approximately Rs 19,300. When he approached the bank to withdraw the amount, officials refused to let him do so, as the account was in his sister’s name and required valid documentation, including a death certificate.

Being illiterate, the man failed to understand the formalities. Instead of obtaining the required documents, he opened the burial site and exhumed the body. Then he put the skeletal remains in a sack and presented them at the bank as proof of death, police said.

–IANS

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