Man in India Brings Sister’s Skeleton to Bank After Failing to Access Her R3.4K Savings

• A man in India shocked bank staff after digging up his late sister’s skeleton and taking it to a rural bank to claim her money
• The illiterate brother reportedly did not understand he needed a death certificate, using the remains as proof instead
• The case drew comparisons to the case when a Stanger family carried their relative's body to Capitec bank in demand of a policy payout

INDIA — A bizarre and disturbing incident in India has drawn comparisons to South Africa’s recent Capitec Bank controversy, where a grieving family brought a corpse into a branch to demand a funeral payout.

In a similarly desperate act, a man from Odisha’s Keonjhar district reportedly dug up his late sister’s skeletal remains and carried them to a rural bank in protest after being denied access to her money.

What happened to lead up to the shocking incident?

According to the Times of India, the incident took place in Malipasi village under the Patna police station area on Monday at around 1pm. The man, identified as Jitu Munda, arrived at the bank carrying a sack containing his sister’s bones, leaving staff and customers terrified.

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According to reports, bank officials immediately alerted police after seeing the skeleton.

Why did the man take such drastic action?

Jitu’s sister, Kakra Munda, had died two months earlier. She held a bank account with approximately Rs 19,300 (about R3,400). With no surviving husband or children, Jitu was her closest relative and sought to withdraw the money.

However, bank officials refused his request, explaining that the account was in his sister’s name and required proper documentation, including a death certificate, before any funds could be released.

Police say Jitu, who is illiterate, did not understand the formal requirements. Instead of obtaining official documents, he exhumed his sister’s remains from her burial site, placed the bones in a sack, and brought them to the bank as what he believed was proof of her death.

Police response and aftermath

Officers were dispatched to the scene after receiving reports of the incident. Following discussions with authorities, Jitu agreed to take the remains back and rebury them properly.

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Kiran Prasad Sahu of the local police station said the man acted out of ignorance rather than malice.

“He is innocent and could not understand the need for a death certificate to withdraw his sister’s money,” Sahu explained.

The post by the Times of India about the bizarre incident:

Family dumps body at Capitec bank in protest

The incident echoed a recent South African case where a grieving family took extreme measures to demand financial justice from Capitec. The South African Police Service had to close the Capitec Bank branch in Stanger on Tuesday, 18 February 2026, after a family brought a dead body inside the premises during a dispute over a life insurance payout. It is alleged that the family had gone to the branch in the Stanger CBD, KZN, to claim funeral or life policy funds. Bank staff reportedly told them they needed proof of death to process the claim. The family later returned with the deceased's body and placed it inside the bank.

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Dog unearths human remains

Previously, Briefly News reported that police were alerted after a dog unearthed human remains at a homestead in Limpopo. When the South African Police Service (SAPS) officers arrived, a man led one of them to a human head lying in the yard. Officers then uncovered a maize-meal bag buried in a shallow grave and covered with soil. The man allegedly told the officer that the head belonged to his son and that the bag contained the rest of his remains.

Source: Briefly News