Demonetisation effect: Man commits suicide, another collapses and dies in Kerala

An elderly man in Kerala allegedly ended his life amid fears that he would not be able to withdraw money deposited in a cooperative bank due to the ongoing demonetisation drive and another collapsed and died while standing in a queue in a bank, police said on Tuesday.

73-year-old Omanakuttan Pillai from Cheruvillayil in Pamba valley in Kottayam district committed suicide by hanging in his bedroom yesterday, they said.

Pillai had deposited Rs five lakh in a service Cooperative bank and following demonetization he grew apprehensive that he would not be able to withdraw his money, they said. In another incident, Chandrasekharan (68) collapsed and died while he was standing in a queue at a bank in Kollamdistrict.

The retired BSNL employee was waiting in the queue atNallila branch of State Bank of Travancore during a secondvisit to the branch when he collapsed, police said.

He had visited the branch in the morning, but onseeing the long queue, he returned after lunch to withdrawcash from his account.
While waiting to collect his token, he is said to have collapsed. Though he was rushed to the hospital, his life couldnot be saved, they added.

On November 11, a 75-year-old man, standing in a queueat a branch of the State Bank of Travancore, collapsed anddied, while another died while filling forms to deposit hisscrapped high denomination notes in the state.