The 45-year-old Niti Choudhury, who works as a domestic caregiver, sold her house in December last year for Rupees five lakh and has been trying to deposit the cheque since then in her Corporation Bank's Ballygunge branch account.
"She needs a medical certificate declaring her mentally fit. Under our laws we cannot let her operate the account till then," the bank branch manager M N Moger told PTI.
In September 2009, Choudhury was handed a fit-for-discharge certificate by a board constituted by doctors at Lumbini Park Mental Hospital where she was admitted for schizophrenia.
After her discharge, she has been working as a caregiver at a house in north Kolkata earning Rs 2000 per month.
In 2011, she opened an account at the Corporation Bank where her salary was transferred.
"I have been withdrawing money but when I went to deposit the cheque, they simply refused to let me do so," a helpless Choudhury said.
Activist Ratnaboli Ray, who runs the NGO Anjali Mental Health Rights Organisation, said the bank did not need to know the medical history of a client for permission to operate a bank account.
"This is a case of clear violation of the rights of a person suffering from psychosocial disability," she said.
Besides facing unnecessary hassles for the last five months, Choudhury has also lost the interest she would have got has the money been deposited to the bank on time.
Her cheque will expire in the next 15-20 days.
