Thiruvananthapuram: Viji, wife of Sanal Kumar who was killed following an altercation with the former Neyyatinkara DySP B Harikumar, approached the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) seeking action against Power Minister M M Mani for allegedly insulting her over the phone. Meanwhile, Congress and BJP flayed the minister for the insensitive made while dismissing Viji's plea for job.
Coming down heavily on Minister Mani, BJP spokesman B Gopalakrishnan said Mani's role in the LDF government was that of a ghastly scarecrow put up to ward off evil eye. “People are fed up with him. The latest example of his callous trait is the harsh remarks made against Viji. He spoke to her in an aggressive and threatening manner,” he said and demanded the chief minister to throw him out of the Cabinet.
Mani had reportedly said the government has no spare job opportunities to accommodate Viji.
Meanwhile, Viji continued her indefinite hunger strike in front of the Secretariat for the eleventh day on Thursday. Submitting that her husband was a victim of police brutality, she made an appeal to provide a government job to her and financial assistance of Rs 50 lakh to the debt-ridden family.
K Muraleedharan MLA, who inaugurated the day’s protest, said the minister, who made utterly unkind remarks against a woman fighting for justice, was a bane of Kerala society.
“In the past, financial assistance had been provided from the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund to families of several persons who died in similar incidents. The Pinarayi Vijayan-led government had also offered jobs to the kin of the victims. But, unfortunately, the largesse has been limited to the government’s well-wishers. The Congress would stand behind Viji until her demands are met,” the MLA said.
Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, MLA, Muslim League state vice-president K Kutty Ahmed Kutty, and Janata Dal state committee member George Joseph also visited Viji at the venue of the hunger strike.
