MANGALURU: The body of a 69-year-old daily-wage labourer, who fell seriously ill and allegedly died at his workplace, was brought in a pickup truck and dumped on the road in front of his house, without even his family members being informed. The incident was reported on Saturday in Chikkamudnoor village of Puttur taluk in Dakshina Kannada district.
The deceased has been identified as Shivappa, a resident of Salmara Tarigudde, who was working at a mill owned by Henry Tauro.
‘Labourer suffered a heart attack’
Tauro had reportedly taken Shivappa in a pickup truck for work at Salmara Tauro Industries, where the latter was assisting in plastering work. Shivappa, however, took seriously ill and allegedly died there, and his body was brought back on the same pickup truck and dropped on the road, in front of his house. Immediately, his daughter, Usha, and his wife found him dead there, and brought the body into the house with the helps of locals, said Usha, in a complaint to the Puttur police.
Soon after the incident, Dalit organisations gathered outside the Puttur Town police station and protested against the inhumane act of Tauro, and sought action against him. Dakshina Kannada Superintendent of Police Yathish N said they have arrested the driver of the pickup truck, while Tauro is absconding. “The exact reason behind the incident is yet to be ascertained, and prima facie negligence is seen on the part of the employer. The mill owner is absconding,” Yathish said. Meanwhile, a postmortem confirmed that Shivappa had died of a heart attack.