A 55-year-old woman in Telangana killed herself on Thursday after she was told that her life’s savings in denominations of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 were “as good as waste”. Reports suggested that Kandukuri Vinoda, 55, hanged herself at her house in Mahbubabad district because she did not know how to convert her money.
The local police said Vinoda got Rs 56.40 lakh from selling 12 acres of agricultural land. Of this, she spent around Rs 2 lakh on medical treatment for her husband, Hindustan Times reported. She had kept the remaining money aside for her daughter’s marriage and to purchase another plot.
She took her life after a villager told her that her money was of no use following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement about the currency demonetisation on November 8. Following Modi’s address, Vinoda had an argument with her family who blamed her for not consulting with them before taking the decision to sell the land. Local residents said it was common for people in the region to keep high denomination notes at home with the marriage season around the corner.
The Centre’s move has been criticised by opposition party leaders, including Samajwadi Party’s Mulayam Singh Yadav, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The Trinamool Congress chief was the first to speak up against the decision calling it draconian. She had urged the government to withdraw the ban on existing currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 citing the inconvenience it would cause to the poor and those living in the rural areas of the country. The new currency notes were introduced on November 10.
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