CHIKKABALLAPUR: The fate of the son of daily wage labourer Eshwaramma, who died after losing her hard-earned cash while standing in a queue at bank, is now at the mercy of God and villagers. Naveen Kumar, an eighth standard student and the only son of Eshwaramma, is being taken care of by the villagers of Chendur in Gudibande taluk of Chikkaballapur district ever since her death. But how long the support will continue, nobody knows.
Poor Eswaramma’s dream of reconstructing her house, which was gutted earlier, is also unlikely to be fulfilled in the near future. She had somehow managed to save `15, 000 from her daily wages and grant from the gram panchayat, which she was planning to spend on reconstruction of house. But fate had something else in store.
On November 12, she went to deposit the money in a bank at Gudibande, 15 km from her village. While standing in the queue, she lost the money. However, she did not know if the money was robbed or slipped out of her hands, all thanks to the heavy rush in banks following demonetisation of high-value currency notes. Unable to bear the huge loss of savings of her whole life, she came home in tears and slowly slipped into depression. Two days later, she was found dead.
Initially, it was suspected that she committed suicide, but later it was said that she died of cardiac arrest and shock.
However, police are still awaiting the report from Forensic Science Laboratory.
“On the villagers’ request, the Gram Panchayat had released money for reconstruction of her house. Along with her hard-earned money and support from villagers, the foundation for her house was also laid. When she was told by the villagers to exchange the notes of high denominations, she had gone to bank, where she lost the money and all her hopes of having her own house. Neighbours tried to console her after the incident, but in vain,” said Ramachandrappa of the village. “Depression could be the reason behind her caridac arrest,” he added.
“Eshwaramma’s hut was gutted six months back. Since then, she and her son were staying in a
portion of one Dhobi Narayana Swamy’s house. He had allowed them to stay in his house on
humanitarian grounds,” said Narayanappa of Chendur village, which has a population of 400.
Eshwaramma’s husband Nagappa, who was an alcoholic, had abandoned the family earlier. He has not bothered to take care of his son even after Eshwaramma’s death and continues to drink heavily. Even her funeral was conducted with villagers’ support. Their only daughter, who is married and settled in Bagepalli, is also reeling under financial crisis.