Chinese Elderly Woman Dies After Bank Forces Her To Appear In-Person

A Chinese bank has come under scrutiny after it forced a sick elderly woman to withdraw money in person from one of its branches, which eventually led to her death. The 62-year-old woman, known as Peng, had been suffering from diabetes and was hospitalised recently after falling and fracturing her leg.

The incident took place on May 14 when one of Ms Peng's daughters arrived at the Agricultural Bank of China branch in Zhuzhou, Hunan province. Despite using her mother's identity card and deposit book, she was unable to complete the transaction due to entering the wrong password several times.

Owing to the errors, the bank clerk said Ms Peng must be present in person to solve the issue. Despite the daughter repeatedly telling the officer that her mother was gravely ill, the clerk refused to budge.

Caught in a corner, the daughter rang up her sister, who, alongside her husband, brought Ms Peng to the bank in a wheelchair. However, even then, the funds could not be withdrawn.

As per a report in the South China Morning Post, Ms Peng was not fully conscious after the one-hour ordeal and could be seen leaning her head to one side. It was due to this reason that bank officials were unable to run the face recognition checks, which required her to perform movements such as nodding and blinking.

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Worried about their mother, the two daughters took her outside for fresh air, but tragically, she passed away at the entrance. The authorities have opened an investigation into the case, with Ms Peng stating that she died from a sudden outbreak of illness.

While the investigation continues, one of Ms Peng's nephews claimed that the family had reached an agreement with the bank to resolve the matter. The bank will cover Ms Peng's funeral costs and provide the family with Rs 11.8 lakh (100,000 yuan) as “consolation money”.

"The agreement is signed between the bank and my cousin ," the nephew said. "We will not pursue the matter any further. We are preparing to return to our rural hometown."

An anonymous bank employee stated that Ms Peng's relatives had not disclosed her medical condition to the staff.