india

Updated: Nov 11, 2016 07:45 IST

A middle-aged homemaker in Telangana committed suicide on learning that bank notes of Rs 54.40 lakh she had stored in denominations of 1,000 and 500 rupees were “as good as waste paper”.

Kandukuri Vinoda, 55, of east-central Mahbubabad district hanged herself at her residence in Sanagapuram village early on Thursday apparently unaware of how to convert her money.

According to the police, Vinoda sold her 12 acres of agricultural land in Sanagapuram for Rs 56.40 lakh. Of this, she spent Rs 2 lakh on treatment for her husband who suffered a paralytic stroke recently. The remaining amount, all in cash, was kept to meet expenses of her daughter’s marriage and buy another piece of land.

On Wednesday, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the demonetisation of 1000 and 500 rupee notes, villagers told a panicked Vinoda that the old high-denomination notes were of “no use” and were “as good as waste papers”.

A bitter argument ensued between Vinoda and the rest in her family, who faulted her for selling the entire piece of land “without consulting them”, the police said.

Fearing that all the cash lying with her had turned worthless, the woman killed herself on Thursday after the rest of the family members went to sleep.

One of the villagers say Sanagapuram, R Madhukar, said most land transactions in rural Telangana happen through cash. “This is marriage season in Telangana and most of the households keep high-denomination money at home. Pulling these notes out of circulation has left most of us in the lurch,” he said.

Very few in the village areas were aware of what steps needed to be taken to convert their 500- and 1000-rupees notes, Madhukar added.