MANDYA: A sweeper with the Maddur town municipality hanged himself on Tuesday, three months after he was allegedly forced to get into a manhole and clean it with his hands. In a note he left behind, Narayana, 37, blamed top officials for harassing him to declare that he had voluntarily gone without safety gear.
Sources said on November 2, Narayana was forced to clean a manhole and he was being hounded since as the incident made headlines.
Mandya sweeper’s pay was withheld, say colleagues
Sources said municipal officials forced Narayana to clean a manhole without gloves, mask or any cleaning equipment. The incident made media headlines and an inquiry was ordered against the officials and CMC president Sureshkumar. As word of the manual scavenging got around, the officials came under flak and reportedly harassed Narayana to own up the lapse, and say that he voluntarily got into the manhole without any protection.
Narayana’s colleagues said his salary was withheld since and he was placed under suspension for petty reasons as he refused to take the blame. Narayana is survived by his wife and three children.
After postmortem, Narayana’s body was brought before the city municipal council office where sweepers held a protest against the alleged ill-treatment by civic officials. Karnataka Urban Local Bodies’ Outsource Employees Union (KULBOEU) state president MB Nagannagowda said Narayana was being hounded by “rogue officials” and suspended for flimsy reasons. “Had the authorities taken swift legal action against those erring officers and the CMC president, Narayana would have been alive,” he said.
Besides Sureshkumar, Narayana named chief officer Murugesh and health inspector Ghasim Khan in his note. Maddur police have registered a case under provisions of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and for abetment of suicide.
The union said sweepers in Mandya will go on strike on February 26 to demand justice for Narayana. “If police don’t conduct proper investigation, we may be forced to go on an indefinite strike. The authorities concerned should be held responsible,” Nagannagowda said. The protesters also demanded compensation for Narayana’s family.