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MYSURU: With videos of men licking and wiping their noses with a bunch of currency notes to deliberately spread coronavirus going viral, scared villagers in Mandya are washing their currency notes in soap water.

People in Maranachakanahalli village, 18km from Mandya town, were recently seen washing 2,000, 500 and 100 denomination notes with soap water and leaving it on a clothesline to dry. The villagers said the currency notes were received from traders who purchased their silk cocoons.

"There are several videos on social media where miscreants are seen licking and wiping their nose or face and threatening to spread the virus. We have seen the videos. This has worried people here as we earn by selling our crops to customers directly or traders and transact only through hard cash," said Kumar Gowda, a villager.

Since the virus can survive on plastic and stainless steel and other surfaces for few hours, the district administration has been urging people to wash their hands frequently with soap and water, even after handling cash. Even the RBI had urged people to use electronic payment instead of cash. However, the villagers have gone a step ahead and are washing the notes, said sources.

Another villager, Bore Gowda, said the villagers are not familiar with electronic payment methods and transact only through cash.

When TOI contacted Mandya zilla panchayat CEO K Yallakigowda, he said the villagers are naive and they might have done it due to the fear of getting infected by the virus. "I will inform the jurisdictional officers concerned like village accountant, panchayat development officer and police officers to visit the village and create awareness on maintaining hygiene and cleanliness," he said.

