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Demonetisation Death Toll Rises To 25 And It's Only Been 6 Days

Housewives are committing suicide, infants are being denied treatment at private hospitals and the elderly are collapsing in long queues.
Hindustan Times via Getty Images

Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday made it clear to his party and allies that the government felt the people were supporting its demonetisation move. As the government refused to consider a rollback, a report say currency normalisation may take four months, and not 50 days as the government claims.

That may take a huge toll on people given there have already been 25 deaths due to demonetisation in just 6 days. These are just the reported deaths, the real number could be more.

  1. In the Bulandshahr (west UP) branch of Kailash hospital, owned by union culture and tourism minister Mahesh Sharma, a child died because the parents had only old currency notes. The hospital wanted them to deposit an advance of Rs 10,000 for admission. The hospital has denied the charge.
  2. A 24 year old woman in north-east Delhi hanged herself to the ceiling fan with her dupatta as she was upset about not being able to exchange currency for three days.
  3. In Surat, Gujarat, a 50 year old mother of two committed suicide because she wasn't able to buy ration to feed her family. The shops refused to accept old currency notes.
  4. A 20 year old woman in Shamli (west UP) committed suicide. Her brother, returning home after failing to exchange currency at the bank, found her hanging from the ceiling fan.
  5. In Chikballapur district of Karnataka, a 40 year old woman committed suicide because Rs 15,000 that she had gone to the bank to exchange got lost or stolen. She had hidden the money from her alcoholic husband.


  6. In Raigarh, Chhattisgarh, a 45 year old farmer was upset at not being able to exchange Rs 3,000 at the bank for three consecutive days. He needed to send money to his stranded children in Tamil Nadu. He came home and committed suicide.

  7. In Limbdi town of Surendranagar district in Gujarat, a 69 year old collapsed and died of heart attack waiting in a queue to exchange currency notes at a Bank of India branch.

  8. An elderly woman living by herself in Kanpur died while counting her notes. Police found Rs 2.69 lakh worth of old currency notes alongside her body.

  9. Also in Kanpur, a young man died of heart attack while watching prime minister Narendra Modi's announcement of demonetisation. The man had received Rs 70 lakhs in advance for selling his land just the previous day. He had been trying to sell his land for months.

  10. In Mumbai, a hospital refused to admit an ill newborn because the parents didn't have legal tender. The child died. The government has allowed the use of old currency notes only in government-run hospitals.

  11. An 18 month old baby died in Vizag as the parents didn't have money to buy medicines. The private hospital refused to accept old currency notes of Rs 500 or 1,000.

  12. Doctors in Mainpuri in Uttar Pradesh stopped treating one year old Kush, suffering from high fever, after his parents ran out of 100 rupee notes. The parents brought him home, where he soon died, his father's 500 rupee notes now worthless.

  13. In Pali district of Rajasthan, the ambulance wouldn't take Champalal Meghwal's new born to hospital as he only had Rs 500 and 1,000 notes. By the time Meghwal arranged 100 rupee notes, the child had died.

  14. In Kushinagar district of Uttar Pradesh, a washerwoman came to know of demonetisation only when she reached a bank to deposit two 1,000 rupee notes she had saved. When told these were no longer legal tender, she died of shock.

  15. Kandukuri Vinoda, 55, a home-maker in Mahubabad district of Telangana, thought her cash savings of Rs 54 lakh were now worthless. She had earned the cash by selling land to pay for her husband's treatment, daughter's dowry and buy a smaller piece of land. She committed suicide.
  16. In Howrah, West Bengal, a man tense over demonetisation murdered his wife because she returned empty handed from the ATM. He felt she should have waited longer in the queue.
  17. In Kaimur district of Bihar, a 45 year old man died of a massive heart attack as he feared his daughter's would-be in-laws may no longer accept his old currency notes in dowry. He had saved up Rs 35,000.
  18. In Thalassery, Kerala, a 45 year man went to deposit Rs 5 lakh for the second day, after being unsuccessful on the first. He fell from the second floor while filling the deposit slip and died. An employee of the state electricity board, the man had taken the money as loan just the previous day. Local media reports said he was disturbed as he had not been able to change the currency notes.
  19. Vishwas Vartak, 72, died of a massive heart attack while waiting to deposit old currency notes at a bank in Mumbai.
  20. A 47 year old farmer had a heart attack waiting to exchange old currency notes in Tarapur in Gujarat. He needed money to pay farm labour.
  21. In Alappuzha, Kerala, 75 year old Karthikeyan collapsed before a bank and died. He had been waiting for an hour in the queue.
  22. In Udupi in Karnataka, a 96 year old man died waiting in a long queue at the bank, and the bank hadn't even opened yet.
  23. 69 year old Vinay Kumar Pandey, a retired BSNL employee, died waiting in a queue at the bank to exchange currency notes in Sagar, Madhya Pradesh.
  24. In Bhopal, a State Bank of India cashier died of heart attack. Bank employees have been putting in extra hours and handling large queues.
  25. A businessman in Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh, felt chest pain soon after watching prime minister Narendra Modi's 8 November announcement of demonetisation. He died before the doctor could arrive.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.