Team Herald
PONDA: Kishore Gaude (51), a worker suspended by a paint company at Kundaim Industrial Estate and who set himself on fire in protest against the alleged harassment by the company management, succumbed to burn injuries at Goa Medical College Hospital, Bambolim on Thursday.
When contacted, Ponda PI Harish Madcaikar said that no offence has been registered in the case so far, and that he was conducting primary investigation into matter.
It is learnt that this is the second time a worker of the same company took his life due to the alleged harassment meted out to him by the company, as a few months ago another worker had committed suicide at home.
On February 16, the victim reportedly had doused in kerosene and set himself on fire in front of the company gate. Gaude suffered 60 per cent burn injuries in the incident and was undergoing treatment at Goa Medical College (GMC) Hospital when he breathed his last on Thursday evening.
Shocked at the attempted self immolation, workers of various companies had protested on Wednesday at Kundaim Industrial Estate against the paint company seeking justice and reinstatement of Kishore Gaude and five other workers who were suspended by the company last year.
Workers Union President Hridaynath Shirodkar demanded that police register a case of abetment to suicide against the company management.
Trade Union leader Adv Ajith Singh Rane said that the government was responsible for the suicide of Gaude. “This is a violation of human rights. The police should register an FIR against the company management. The government and the company should provide Rs 10 lakh as compensation to the family of Gaude,” Rane said.
He said that there were several such violations in the industries and Gaude’s was the second such case in the same company.
Rane said that the workers were resorting to such extreme action as there was no immediate justice or relief provided to them. “The injustice done to the workers is very apparent to the Labour Commissioner and yet he doesn’t take action,” Rane lamented, while pledging to fight for the rights of the workers.
Adv Swati Kerkar said, “We will not keep quite. The police should immediately register an FIR and take stringent action against the company management.”
