Indian man sacked in Saudi Arabi for offensive remarks on women on social media

DUBAI: An Indian man in Saudi Arabia has been fired from his job for posting "derogatory comments" on women, amid the Sabarimala temple row, a media report said Wednesday.

Deepak Pavithram, a Keralite working with Lulu Hypermarket in Riyadh, was sacked on Tuesday for making misogynistic and insensitive remarks about women on social media.

"We have a strict and zero tolerance policy with regard to our staff misusing social media to spread malicious or derogatory comments which might hurt religious sentiments," V Nandakumar, Chief Communications Officer at Lulu Group, told Khaleej Times.

"All GCC nations are home to a large cosmopolitan population from almost all countries in the world and we respect their sentiments, culture and religious beliefs," Nandakumar said.

Kerala expats in the Gulf took to social media to express their appreciation for Yusuff Ali MA, chairman and managing director of Lulu Group, for taking a strong step against the derogatory remarks, the report said.

This is the second termination in recent times by the Indian-owned retail giant on similar grounds.

In August, they had terminated the services of a Keralite expat in Oman after he posted distasteful comments about flood victims in Kerala.

The company took action against him even though he had apologised for the remarks the next day.