In another shocking case of public apathy, a 70-year-old man died after collapsing at a bank in Papanasam in Thanjavur, even as officials and customers continue to perform their own tasks, oblivious to him. A heart-wrenching video of the incident shows Subramaniam, a farmer lying on the floor, while his wife S Thaiyalnaygi sits cradling his head.
Papanasam police said Subramaniam and his wife S Thaiyalnaygi had gone to the Indian bank at Papanasam at 9:30am on Saturday to withdraw money from a savings account. While he was waiting in queue, he collapsed and died of a cardiac arrest at 11:15am.
Police said that although an emergency call was made immediately, no one offered to help Thaialnaygi, who had her husband lying on her lap.
The video shows bank officials and people who were waiting at the bank performing their own tasks, while a few of them click pictures of Thaiyalnyagi’s agony.
When the ambulance reached the spot at 11:35am, they declare him dead.
The Papanasam police have registered a case. Meanwhile, Subramaniam’s body has been taken to his village for the cremation.
In a shockingly similar incident, Kallol Ray Choudhary, a 53-year-old government employee was waiting outside an ATM at Bandel, 60 km away from Kolkata, when he collapsed and died on Saturday, Navbharat Times reported.
The reports also stated that while he lay on the ground for nearly 30 minutes in agony, no one stepped up to call the ambulance or offer any assistance.
A photograph of Choudhary lying on the ground while citizens went about waiting in line for their turn to withdraw money.
An ambulance arrived later and took him to a hospital nearby, where he was declared brought dead, the report states.
Around 82 deaths have been attributed towards demonetization according to various media reports. While some of them occurred during the long wait at banks and ATMs, a few were suicides and also a murder in Howrah, where a man murdered his wife on November 13 for not waiting longer in the queue to get money, according to a report by TOI.