Glare on cash crunch in suicide - Neighbours collect money for last rites of worker who killed himself

TT, Malda, Nov. 18: A day labourer allegedly hanged himself yesterday after his daughter had not been able to withdraw money from the only ATM in their gram panchayat since Monday to meet household expenses.

Gobindo Sarkar, 42, was found dead at his home in Khiripara village in Bamungola, about 55km from here.

While his family said Sarkar had committed suicide because of the cash crunch, police said the reason was yet to be found out.

According to the police, Sarkar had returned from Hyderabad about a week ago. "He had returned with some money after working in Hyderabad. He had run out of cash after settling debts. His wife, Anguri Sarkar, is a domestic help in Delhi. The couple have three children, Champa, 18, Sagar, 15, and Shampa, 11. The eldest daughter is a first year student in Pakua College. Her younger siblings study in Pakua High School," a police source said.

Champa, who ran the household in the absence of her parents, said all the cash that her father had brought had been exhausted.

"My mother sometimes sends money to my father's bank account from Delhi. We had run up dues to the tune of Rs 10,000 at the local grocery. There was no cash at home. Since Monday, I have been going to the only ATM of the State Bank of India in Pakua, about 2km away. There was a huge queue before the ATM on Monday and I could not withdraw money. Yesterday, too, I stood in the queue but before I could enter the ATM, it had run out of cash. I returned home and told my father that I was not able to draw cash. He turned furious and scolded me. I, along with a neighbour and my brother and sister, went to the ATM after sunset. We returned around 8pm and found my father hanging from a beam in the ceiling," Champa said.

Prasanta Sarkar, Gobindo's elder brother, said he and his brother struggled to make both ends meet.

"We are extremely poor and somehow manage to eke out a living. My brother and his wife work outside and they have a bank account in Pakua where they send money for their children. About a week ago, he returned home. They had run out of cash and could not buy food and the grocer had stopped giving them credit. Even though there was some money in his bank account, his daughter could not withdraw it because of long queues and the machine running out of cash. Gobindo broke down mentally and committed suicide," Prasanta said.

Today, some of the villagers stood by the family to pay for Gobindo's last rites. "After his death, his family did not have money for the last rites. We started a collection and some money will be handed over to his children. We paid for his last rites. We are angry and upset that he had to kill himself because of the cash crisis in the wake of the demonetisation decision," said Pralay Biswas, a neighbour.

Asutosh Pal, the officer-in-charge of Bamungola police station, said he couldn't say before investigation whether the suicide was triggered by the cash crisis. "There was some problem in the family and that is why the man committed suicide. Whether it was due to the cash crunch can be said only after a thorough investigation," Pal said.