About 10 days ago, when Hussainbi Mujawar, 65, was looking for her documents in an iron trunk to apply for pension, she discovered a wad of currency notes wrapped in a cloth. When counted, it was ₹82,000 in the old ₹500 and ₹1,000 denominations.
Later, she realised that the money had been kept by her 71-year-old husband, Abdul Hamid Mujawar, who is suffering from paralysis of brain and limbs for the last nearly two years.
The family is now confused whether to feel happy or curse their destiny.
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“My father, who was working in a factory that manufactures concrete pipes, was saving some money from his earning, but we did not know that he had kept that in the old trunk,” said Bandenawaz, his 37-year-old son who works for an agency that supplies pathology equipment.
The family, which has already spent around ₹6 lakh on the treatment of the father, has borrowed money from relatives and friends.
“We have been giving all sorts of treatments. Presently, we are treating him at an ayurvedic centre in Udupi where we have already spent around ₹50,000,” Mr. Bandenawaz said.
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Hoping that the money would be of some use if it gets converted into new currency, he said he even visited RBI in Bengaluru carrying medical documents of his father.
“But the RBI refused to accept the money despite showing all medical documents. We tried to convince the officials but they did not heed,” he said.
Mr. Bandenawaz said it is his father’s hard earned money, which he saved over several years, and now he does not know how to get it converted into new notes.