HR manager, hostel warden held for assault on mill worker in Coimbatore

The police said the mill’s HR manager V. Muthaiah (46) and ladies hostel warden R. Latha (39) were arrested on Sunday morning

December 05, 2021 12:59 pm | Updated 12:59 pm IST - Coimbatore

The Saravanampatti police in Coimbatore on Sunday arrested the Human Resources (HR) manager of a spinning mill and the warden of its ladies hostel on charges of assaulting a woman employee, a native of Jharkhand. The action was taken after the video of the assault went viral on social media.

The police said the mill’s HR manager V. Muthaiah (46) and ladies hostel warden R. Latha (39) were arrested on Sunday morning.

According to the police, a group of women from Jhakhand came to the mill at Udayampalayam, near Coimbatore, two weeks ago. The mill management told the police that the women remained in the hostel and did not report to work for a week.

When Latha questioned the women about it on November 27, one of the women allegedly pushed her. This led to a quarrel and the HR manager beat the woman with a stick, the video of which went viral on social media, the police said. The warden was accused of having pulled the hair of the woman.

Thangadurai, Deputy Director of Industrial Safety and Health, Thudiyalur, lodged a complaint with the police on Saturday.

Saravanampatti inspector L. Kanthasamy investigated the incident and arrested the HR manager and the warden for offences under Sections 294 (b) (obscene acts and songs), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 506 (1) (criminal intimidation) of the IPC and Section 4 (penalty for harassment of women) of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act.

Deputy Commissioner of Police E.S. Uma said the police have informed the Labour Department to look into the incident.

Industry sources said any mill where women workers are not treated according to the norms should be taken to task. “We organise awareness programmes and teach the employees how to treat women workers. There are social audits too. Yet, there are such incidents,” a textile mill association representative said.

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