MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Monday sought a response from the state government on a petition filed by a man seeking Rs 50 lakh compensation for the death of his wife in an accident at the Samayapuram Mariamman temple in Tiruchy in March this year.
D Mohan of Palavathankattalai village in Thanjavur stated in his petition that he and his wife were daily wage workers and they had two minor children aged 11 and four.
According to him, on March 28, his wife and children, along with the villagers, had gone to the above temple for worship and stayed in the temple that night. At around 12 am, a portion of the temple’s roof collapsed and fell on his wife.
She sustained severe injuries and died later, Mohan stated, adding that the temple authorities paid Rs 1 lakh compensation to him.
However, claiming that the accident happened due to the negligence of the temple officials and his children suffered mental trauma after witnessing their mother’s death, he sought Rs 50 lakh compensation from the government.
Since there was no positive response to his representation, he moved the high court.
When the case was heard on Monday, Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy told the government counsel to get instructions from the authorities concerned and adjourned the case to November 10.