Oman firm fires Kerala man over insensitive remark on flood victims

Tribune Web Desk

Chandigarh/Dubai, August 20

A rude joke by a man from Kerala on providing sanitary napkins to those hit by floods in his home state cost him his job at a company in Muscat.

As someone mooted the idea on social media of donating sanitary napkins for relief camps, the man, Rahul Cheru Palayattu, asked wouldn't giving condoms be better instead.

The offensive comment was enough for Rahul to lose his job of a cashier at Lulu Hypermarket in Bousher, Muscat.

In response to a social media post where someone asked whether sanitary napkins were required, Rahul wrote a query "if people required condoms too?" The comments faced backlash as a large number of people called him out on his insensitivity. Following this, he was fired from his job, The News Minute reported.

His termination letter by the firm's Human Resource Manager, Nasr Mubarak Salem Al Maawali read, "This is to inform that we have terminated your service with immediate effect because of your highly insensitive and derogatory comments on social media with regard to current flood situation in Kerala, India."

It read, “You are hereby instructed to handover all your official responsibilities to your reporting Manager immediately and to contact the Accounts Department for your final settlement.

After facing the heat for his remarks, Rahul apologised by posting a video on Facebook on Sunday, "I am really sorry for what I did. I was in an inebriated state when I posted that message. At that time I did not know what I did was a grave mistake."

In a statement, Chief Communications Officer (CCO) of Lulu group V Nandakumar said, "We took immediate steps to terminate his services and send out a very loud and clear message to the society about our stance in such issues. We as an organisation have always stood for humanitarian values and highest ethical practices."

Indian billionaire and owner of Lulu group, MA Yusuff Ali, who also hails from Kerala, also donated 9.23 million UAE dirhams for relief operations in the flood-hit state.

Extending their support to the people affected by flash floods in Kerala, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government on Saturday formed a committee to provide relief to the southern state.

Kerala has been facing its worst flooding in a century, with nearly 400 people being killed. The state has suffered a loss of Rs 19,512 crore due to the deluge, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said.

As the massive floods, caused due to torrential rains wreaked havoc, besides the Central Government, the Chief Ministers of various states have come forward to support Kerala and offered financial aid to the southern state. With inputs from ANI