Bones binge

Financial inclusion is reaching India’s rural population that was once beyond the reach of public services. Modernized residents of far-flung communities are able to open bank accounts though challenges remain as some folks are ignorant of paperwork and processes.

When the sister of Jitu Munda died, she left her savings deposited at the Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) branch in India’s eastern state of Odisha. The brother, a member of a tribal community, was aware of the money and went to the bank to withdraw from the account.

As standard procedure, the staff at OIB asked Munda for an authorization letter and death certificate in order to release the money to him. Despite being told that the account holder was deceased, they insisted on having the documents.

An upset Munda had no way of getting an authorization letter from his dead sister and thought of an alternative. When he returned to the bank, he was hopeful of getting the money as he brought his sister’s remains as proof of death after digging it up from her grave.

The bank staff were shocked by Munda’s macabre move but nonetheless frustrated him again by asking him to return with the death certificate.

Meanwhile, Munda’s grave-digging tactic was outdone by a 34-year-old man from Pennsylvania, USA.

Jonathan Gerlach appeared in Delaware County court on 17 April to face nearly 500 charges, including burglary, abuse of a corpse, and desecration of monuments, Fox News reports.

Gerlach was arrested in January in connection with burglaries and trespassing at the Mount Moriah Cemetery near Philadelphia and a cemetery in Plains Township, Luzerne County between 7 November 2025 and 6 January 2026, according to Fox.

Police on patrol in January stumbled on numerous bones and skulls in the backseat of a car later identified as owned by Gerlach, who was also seen leaving a cemetery with tools, according to officials.

After his arrest for admitting stealing around 30 sets of human remains, police raided his home in Ephrata and recovered 100 human skeletons as well as eight more human remains inside a storage locker in another place.

Gerlach was mum about his motives and will next appear in court in June.