A poor woman living in a jhuggi in Nangloi in Delhi could not suppress her frustration on Wednesday when the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) refused to exchange her old currency notes. Unable to understand what to do, the woman stripped off her clothes outside the Central bank’s office.
The woman visited the bank on Tuesday to exchange two old Rs 1,000 notes and four old Rs 500 notes. However, a police officer said that the notes were in a bad shape. She said that rats in the jhuggis chewed on them.
At the RBI counter, she was asked for an ID proof, but she didn’t have any. The woman, who was with her child, was turned away after waiting for hours because as per rules RBI cannot exchange the old currency notes without an ID proof.
“When she refused to leave and her child urinated inside, policewomen had to escort her outside,” the officer said.
She left in tears, only to come back again on Wednesday at 10 am. After she was turned down again, she sat outside the RBI office. Policewomen tried to move her but she held the fort.
When she saw that no help was in sight, she took off her clothes outside the office at 1 pm. She, along with her son, was taken away by policewomen in a police van to prevent any trouble.
She was taken to Parliament Street police station from where she was sent back home.
