Fear and frustration force abandoned staff to turn violent

[email protected] (Emirates 24 7)
December 22, 2011

shrj

Sharjah, December 22: An Indian worker who stripped naked and turned violent had to be tied up and shackled by his colleagues in Sharjah.



The 34-year-old Bhushan T, who is from the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, has been working with Systems Engineering since last four years. The owner of the company fled earlier this month, leaving almost 500 employees with unpaid dues for six months.


“He was so distressed with the state of affairs that he started behaving strangely, almost a week ago,” said Siddique, one of his colleagues.


“He is very agitated. He picked up unnecessary fights. Stripped naked outside and was even arrested by the police, who later let him free. He was even beaten up by some Chinese men living in a nearby camp,” he added.

“It is not just him, we all are agitated by the state of affairs,” he added.



Bhushan whose visa expired almost a year ago is married with two children and has a loan of more than Rs100,000 that was borrowed from India. “He borrowed more to maintain his family during the last six months. He is even more agitated today because he is unable to leave the country as his visa has expired,” added Siddique.

Almost 200 workers, including many of Bhushan’s colleagues, have been already sent home after authorities in Hamriya Free Zone facilitated their travel and paid them Dh1,000 each. Workers were demanding authorities to at least auction the remaining property and machinery and pay them for what they worked for. “Even during the recent three-day holiday, we all worked overtime because there was an urgent job to be completed,” said another worker.

Many of them have been employed for over 10 years, and say their gratuities alone would have amounted to anywhere between Dh15,000 and 40,000 each. Last week, some employees said that they were so deep in debt that the thought of suicide did cross their mind at times.

Bhushan meanwhile has now been shifted to the workers' accommodation in Sharjah. “Although many companies promised to provide us jobs, so far nothing has materialized. Some of them are even trying to exploit us. We have some of the best skilled workers who were earning around Dh1,300 to Dh1,800. Some people approached us and asked us to work for Dh600 and Dh1,000, without food or accommodation,” said another employee.



Some of the remaining workers said food has become scarce.


“Last night, we were all starving when a kind hearted lady from Sharjah fetched us some food in the middle of the night,” he added.


Laila Abubaker from ORMA has been helping the workers.

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News Network
July 21,2020

Nagpur, July 21: In a shocking incident, an 11-year-old boy allegedly killed self in Maharashtra's Nagpur city after being reprimanded by his mother for buying a samosa, police said on Tuesday.

Veeru Natthu Sahu was found hanging from a ceiling fan at his home in Ganga Nagar in Gittikhadan area on Sunday night, an official said.

The deceased boy's family was struggling to make ends meet after their small business was hit because of the coronavirus-induced lockdown, he said.

The Class 7 student had taken Rs 10 from home without asking his mother and bought a samosa, which was then eaten by his elder brother, the official said.

The boy's mother scolded him for taking money without her permission and asked him to get the snack for himself, following which the distraught minor allegedly went into the kitchen and hanged himself using a saree, he said.

The Gittikhadan police have registered a case of accidental death in this regard, the official added.

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News Network
March 18,2020

Jaipur, Mar 18: Initially buried as per Islamic traditions, an unidentified man's body was exhumed and later cremated after he was found to be a Hindu in Rajasthan's Tonk district, police said.

The family members identified the body of Mahaveer Sahu on Tuesday, a day after the burial, as they stumbled upon photos of the deceased that had circulated on social media.

The man was brought to a government hospital by locals in an unconscious state on March 12 and he died on March 13, according to Purani Tonk police station SHO Shivlal.

The man was said to be a liquor addict and was found unconscious on the road, he added.

The body was kept at the mortuary for three days awaiting identification. Despite efforts to trace the next of kin, the identity could not be ascertained and members of Hindu and Muslim communities were brought in to take a decision, Shivlal said.

The community leaders presumed that he was a Muslim after examining the body and the burial took place as per Islamic funeral traditions on Monday, he added.

Meanwhile, Sahu's family members saw the photo of his body that had circulated on a WhatsAapp group and identified him later that day. They rushed to the hospital and then to the police station in the night where they were informed that the body had been buried.

“The body was exhumed with permission from the sub-divisional magistrate on Tuesday and handed over to the family members after proper identification. Members of the Muslim community led by an Imam were also present and gave in writing that they have no objection,” Shivlal said.

The body was later cremated by his family members.

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News Network
March 28,2020

Hyderabad, Mar 28: Seven labourers from Karnataka were killed and four injured when the van in which they were travelling was hit by a truck near Pedda Golconda on the outskirts of the city late on Friday night, police said.

The deceased included two children. Of the 31 workers in the van, five died on the spot and two while undergoing treatment at a hospital, Assistant Commissioner of Traffic Vishwa Prasad said.
Four others were hospitalised and the condition of one of them is critical, he said, adding the other workers in the van escaped with minor injuries.

The workers were on their way back to their home town Raichur in Karnataka as the road project they were working in at Suryapet here was stalled due to the lockdown, Prasad said.

He said initital investigations revealed that the mango laden truck, which was on its way to Gujarat, was overspeeding.

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