Three people died while standing in queues, three more killed themselves and one tried to set himself ablaze in Ghaziabad over the last 48 hours as frustration mounted in people unable to access their own money.
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The six deaths occurred over Monday and Tuesday -three in Uttar Pradesh and one each in Bihar, Telangana and Gujarat.
In Ghaziabad, Ram Mehar Singh Yadav, a farmer who could not visit a doctor because he had no cash, tried to set himself on fire at a branch of Sahkari bank in Muradnagar on Tuesday . He was stopped by other customers who saw him dousing himself with kerosene. Bank officials exchanged his Rs 2,000 in cash and sent him home.
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In Gujarat's Surat district, Indira Modi, 22, died in a private hospital on Tuesday after consuming pesticide at her residence in Varachha, in Gujarat's Surat district, on Monday . She also administered it to her one-year-old son, but he survived and his condition is said to be improving. Police said the woman ended her life after an argument with her husband because he could not give her more than Rs 300 for household expenses, police said.
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Deshraj Singh, 55, a farmer, ended his life in Muradpur village, in Bulandshahr's Anupshahr block, on Monday because he could not withdraw the money he had banked after taking a loan against his land to get his daughter married on December 5.
The demonetization of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes had left Deshraj Singh, a farmer, helpless; his village of 10,000 people had just one bank and no ATMs. "The money disappears as quickly as it comes in the banks.
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The situation needs to be fixed as soon as possible," said Netram Singh, the village pradhan. "My son had placed 2.5 bighas of land as collateral against a loan of Rs 65,000.
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The money he received was deposited in the bank. But ever since the Centre announced demonetisation, he had been under a lot of pressure to arrange cash for the wedding preparations. Since there is a cap on the amount you can withdraw in a day, he was really struggling," said the deceased's father, Yadram Singh.
Sumit Kumar, also from the Bulandshahr area - a boy of 18 - killed himself at home in Malakpur village on Monday night simply because he could not withdraw money to go to the Ganga Mela with his friends.
His father is a BSF jawan. A fourth person, Aziz Ansari, 60, of Darbhanga, Bihar, collapsed on suffering a heart attack while standing in a queue to exchange his money at a public sector bank in Meerut's Gola Kuan locality on Tuesday . He died at home the same day .
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His family claimed Tuesday was the third day that Ansari -who worked in a power loom factory in Meerut and was paid in high-value currency notes -had lined up at 6am to get his old notes exchanged. "He called me up while he was still standing in the queue.
He complained of chest pain.When I reached there, I found him writhing in pain. With the help of some locals, I took him home, but he passed away before medical aid could arrive," said Mohammed Iliyas, his brother-in-law. Ansari leaves behind four children, two of whom work in Delhi.
In Bihar, the long queue outside a bank claimed the life of Lal Muni Devi, 55, of Sapneri village, in Gaya district's Mahkar police station area, on Tuesday , but bank officials said she had died after withdrawing money . Reports reaching district headquarters said the homemaker collapsed in the queue at PNB's Nai Bazaar-Khizarsarai branch and was subsequently declared dead.
Gaya DM Kumar Ravi, however, pleaded ignorance."I will seek a report from local officials," he told TOI.