A private marketing firm in Kochi, Kerala has been accused of giving inhuman punishment to its employees for poor performance by making them walk on their knees like chained dogs and lick coins from the floor. The state labour department has ordered an inquiry into the incident after a video of the incident was aired by local news channels. The video shows an employee walking on his knees like a dog with a leash around his neck. Apart from this, some employees were also forced to lick coins from the floor as punishment for not meeting sales targets. The visuals sparked outrage on social media and across the state. State labour minister V Sivankutty has ordered an inquiry into the matter considering its seriousness and sought an immediate report from the district labour officer. He said the visuals aired by news channels were “shocking and disturbing”, and it will be ensured that the incident is thoroughly investigated. Along with this, the State Human Rights Commission and the Kerala State Youth Commission have also registered separate cases. Youth Commission Chairman M Shajar said that such practices are unacceptable in a civilized society and legal action should be taken.
Employees’ protest and company’s side
However, some employees have come out defending the company in this case. They claimed that they never faced such harassment at the workplace and the purpose of the video was to damage the company’s reputation. Employees of the Keltra marketing firm also said that the video has been presented in such a way that the incident seems more sensitive.
Police statement and new twist
The police have also described this video as misleading. A former manager Manaf alleged that this video was shot due to his dispute with the owner of the company. He claimed that this video was shot with some trainees, who were shown that it was part of their training. According to the police, the purpose of this video was only to resolve the dispute between the managers and it was later made public.
Statements by employees
According to local media reports, the employee seen crawling on the floor in the video claimed that he had joined the company only four months ago and had given his consent to participate in the video. He said that the video was shot to resolve a dispute between managers and that disciplinary action was taken against some employees after the video went public. The matter is currently under investigation, and the state government and the police department are investigating the matter thoroughly. At the moment, it is not clear what the reality of the video is, but the incident has become a major topic of discussion in the state.
