BENGALURU:Kavitha, the city corporation worker Subramani’s wife, is still in shock by the “apathy” shown by officials of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike.“My husband wrote a letter to the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President (KPCC) President to bring to his notice the apathy shown by BBMP officials, who had not bothered to pay his salary. Since I am an illiterate I had not read the letter.
On Monday, I showed the letter to BBMP officers who had come to the KC General Hospital and they told me that the letter is fake with a forged sign. It came as another shock to me that they did not believe that my husband wrote a letter before his death. He had taken the help of his friend and the letter was typed out in a photostat centre. My husband, along with contractor Srinivasulu, was to meet Dinesh Gundu Rao this Monday about his salary,” Kavitha said.
According to the family, Subramani had gone to his elder sister Vijaya’s house in a neighbouring locality on Sunday, after work. He had consumed poison there and collapsed. He was taken to a nearby private hospital for first aid and from there he was referred to KC General Hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival. Subramani had been working on Nagappa Street, Ward No 77.
Speaking to TNIE, Kavitha, who works as a domestic help, said, “I was working in my landlord’s home when my sister-in-law informed me about Subramani being admitted to the hospital after he consumed the poison. I rushed to the hospital and fainted on seeing my husband’s body... my relatives came rushing.”
He had taken a loan of `2.5 lakh from private financiers and was unable to repay it because he had not received his salary. “For one year we have been having financial financial difficulties because we paid school fees for our daughter Pavitra, who is studying in fourth standard, and our son Darshan, who is studying in second standard in a private school,” she said.
Union demands compensation for family
BBMP Guttige Pourakarmikara Sangha on Monday released a press note demanding that BBMP give compensation of `25 lakh to the family. They also demanded that Subramani’s wife Kavitha be given a permanent job with the BBMP and government housing. They want legal action taken against concerned officials and contractors for abetment to suicide. They demanded that BBMP ensure regular payment of monthly wages before 7th of every month, as per law.
(Inputs from Sharath Manjunath)