“The verdict should bring justice to the family and memories of Soumya besides serving as an eye-opener to society,” said Imam Salih, who had employed Soumya as a sales girl at his home décor shop in a city shopping mall for nearly a year.
“She was a very obedient, punctual and soft-spoken girl, who shared a special bond with her mother. Soumya used to share all details of her life with her mother. The everyday happenings in the shop and even the responses and reactions of customers were communicated to her without leaving out the details,” remembered Mr. Salih.
Though the company provided accommodation for its women employees, she used to go home after collecting her salary. On the fateful day, Soumya left the office early after taking permission from her employer to board the passenger train. She was also carrying her salary, which was to be handed over to her mother.
A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Tuesday confirmed the death sentence awarded by the Thrissur Fast Track Court to Govindachami of Tamil Nadu, the sole accused in the Soumya murder case. The incident took place on February 1, 2011. She succumbed to injuries at the Thrissur Government Medical College Hospital on February 6.
“Initially, everyone thought it was an accident. However, the horrifying details unfolded later. Her colleagues had rushed to the hospital on hearing the news and the company extended support to the victim,” he said.
The employer supported the victim’s family for one year by crediting her salary to her mother’s account. The firm had also met the hospital expenses of the victim besides financially supporting the grieving family. The Human Resource department of the company was still in touch with the family, he said.
“We credited the salary as a humanitarian act. It was the first case of death of an employee of the company and that too, in a tragic manner,” he said.
Her family had invited three of her colleagues home for a get-together arranged for the investigation officers of the case after the trial court pronounced its judgement, remembered Muhammad Jeffry, the accountant of the firm.
