Report of the Fact Finding Team on the Death of Ammu, a Woman Garment Worker, In the Factory Premises
Date of the report: 06.03.2007
Introduction
Subsequent to the discovery of the dead body of Ammu, a young woman worker in Triangle apparels, Unit-6, a meeting was called on February 16 2007, by the Joint Action Committee for the Rights of Garment Workers. A fact-finding team was formed to meet those involved and ascertain the facts of the case so that, civil society, State authorities and the Industry and its business associates like apparel brands can take appropriate measures to unveil the various factors leading to the death of the worker and also to take short and long term measures to prevent such tragedies from recurring.
Following this meeting the Fact Finding Team met on February 22, 2007 at the Office of Karmikara Munnnade.
The team consisted of four members.
1. Ms. Shakun Mohini, Vimochana
2. Ms. Geeta Menon, Stree Jagruthi Samiti
3. Ms. Anuja Mirchandaney, Alternate Law Forum
4. Ms. Anita Cheria, OpenSpace
The group was briefed on the developments since the suicide both at the factory, and at Ammu’s home, by activists of GATWU, Munnade and Cividep. The meetings for the fact-finding were conducted on 22and 23rd February, 2007.
1Background
Ammu, a garment worker aged about 25, had worked in Triangle Apparels for 21 days. She was working as a tailor. Leela Scottish, another garment factory, was her previous employer, where she worked for one and half years in the ironing section. From 2002 – 2005 she had worked in the Arvind Mills garment factory in the ironing section.
Her death in the factory premises was discovered on Tuesday the 13th February. It is suspected that she had committed suicide by hanging herself in the toilet of the factory on Saturday the 10th of February 2007. The Bangalore daily newspaper 'Vijaya Karnataka' dated 14th February alleges that Ammu committed suicide due to sexual harassment in the factory. Another daily newspaper 'Prajavani' reported that one of the employees of the factory has been incessantly harassing Ammu. One more English daily newspaper ‘Deccan Herald’ on the same day reported that, “According to the sources, section supervisor of the factory was harassing Ammu and this might have forced her to take the extreme step.” On Sunday the 11th, according to the management, the factory had not been open and on the 12th, the factory remained closed due to Karnataka Bandh and hence the body was discovered only on Tuesday.
The factory where the death occurred is 'Triangle Apparels' situated at N0.25/26, 3rd Main, Yeshwantpur Industrial Suburb, Bangalore. This is a fully owned unit of M/s Seven Hills Clothing Private Limited. The 'occupier' of the factory is Mr. Madanlal J. Hinduja of the Gokaldas Exports group of companies. The factory is producing clothing for international brands like Mexx, Puma and O'Neil.
Ammu was a resident of Nandini Layout living in a tenement belonging to the Slum Clearance Board along with her mother and two children. Ammu was the sole breadwinner of the family.
On the February 13, when the body was discovered in the morning shift hours, the workers were agitated and staged a protest in front of the factory, demanding investigation. Workers who were in the same section with Ammu, were openly stating that on the day of the incident February 10, one Kumar who is a floor-in-charge abused Ammu in vulgar language at noon mainly pressurizing her to work more rapidly to meet production targets. She was also pushed around and fabric thrown at her. Disconcerted by the harassment and abuse, Ammu expressed her inability to work at such a pace, took the exit pass from Kumar and went to the production manager Ram Prasad. He also abused her, refused to sign the exit pass and ordered Ammu to resume work. Workers say that she has written on her palm and on the exit pass that she was forced to take this extreme measure of suicide due to the harassment meted out to her by Kumar, Rama Krishna and Hemalatha (supervisor).
2Meeting with the family at Ammu’s House:
Nandini Layout, Bangalore. We made the visit on February 22, 2007 at about 11.45 am, and we spent about an hour talking to Ammu’s mother.
We met:
- Jagadamba- Ammu’s mother
- Ammu’s two children (Shakti, elder son, 8years old, Surya, second son, 3 years and 3 months).
- Younger sister Lakshmi was also present.
The mother was the main person who joined the discussion. According to her
“On Tuesday morning around 11.am policemen visited their house and said that her daughter was not well and so was taken to the hospital. She went along with them. On the way the policeman while talking to an auto-rickshaw driver, very casually mentioned that he was taking her to the factory as her daughter had hung herself and committed suicide.” That was when she knew what happened and it was very painful. She felt sad and humiliated because she was not told the truth in her house, nor was she told the truth directly.
When she saw the body of her daughter, it was quite bloated and her tongue had come out. The top portion of the body was covered with a veil. She was stiff in an inclined position. She was being taken into the ambulance. Her mobile was jammed and in pieces as it was soaked in water. Ammu's mother also said that Ammu did not have her lunch on the day of incident, which she had taken to the factory. Her lunch box was left as it was taken from home. She also stated that Ammu’s bag had one pill (she does not know which) along with her lunch box. Her daughter was a strong girl and had gone through tough times, she is not the kind of person who would easily give up.
The mother said that the factory officials had come to the police station and handed over some money. She had signed a blank paper in the police station. Her son is an auto-rikshaw driver and the owner of the auto-rickshaw dealt with the money, part of it was spent on getting Ammu’s husband released, some amount might have been paid to the police and the rest was not touched. It was put in the children’s name in the bank. What they received according to her is Rupees One lakh twenty thousand (Rs. 120,000). She does not have the deposit receipts and has told us what she was told by her son and his employer, who spoke to the management on her behalf and also helped with the cremation.
Ammu’s father too is an auto driver, not very supportive and does not stay with the family. Ammu was the only earning member. What she looks for is support to bring up Ammu’s two sons – 3 yrs and 8 yrs old. Her younger daughter has been offered a job but after Ammu’s death she was scared to send her. Ammu’s sister said she was anxious as she felt that workers were treated very rudely and had seen that her sister herself was tired of changing jobs.
Ammu’s husband Shankar had been in jail for three years, her mother told us that he was brought out of jail, giving Rs 12000 rupees, to attend the funeral. He was in jail for some petty crimes and has a criminal record. Though there were no problems between husband and wife, after her death, he has not shown any interest in the children. Her mother was not sure whether he would come for the thirteenth day ceremony. He has gone to stay with his mother. Ammu’s mother felt that he might try to claim Ammu’s dues from her previous employers and not give any to the children or her.
Visit to the factory to meet the management
The second visit was to the Triangle Apparels - Unit 6 factory. High walls and fort like structures and a tight security greeted us. We asked for Production manager, Mr. Rama Krishna.
The security guard guided us to another factory premises, and said that the managers had just left and will be available only in Wear Craft, opposite MES Bus Stop. On reaching the premises of Wear craft, we were again questioned by security guards. We introduced ourselves and asked for Mr. Ramkrishna, production Manager.
The same questions were repeated we answered three times. The Security personnel did not care to explain why we were being asked the same questions, or why they did not consult each other before they dealt with us individually. They seemed very clear that they had to keep us engaged but not let us in.
The need for such tight security meant that every visitor was treated with utmost suspicion, and a very impenetrable line. What was not clear is the need for such secrecy and security in a garment factory.
Finally Mr. Pradeep , Factory Manager met us and suggested that we meet Mr Laxman Poojari, General Manager (G.M), Production and that he would personally fix an appointment for us. We were informed that the meeting was possible after 6.30pm on the same day or the next morning.
All this conversation took place on the road outside the factory. For some reason it seemed more appropriate for a delegation of seven representatives from civil society groups in Bangalore who had gone to meet the factory managers, that this information be given on the road.
The meeting with the relevant management officer was then fixed for the next day, 2.30 pm, 23rd February 2007. The team again visited Wear Crafts at RMC yard, off Yeshwanthpur, to meet Mr. Laxman Pujari.
On informing the security guard that we had an appointment with the manager Mr. Laxman Pujari, we were again made to wait outside the premises. After a series of phone calls we were finally led into the lobby by Mr. Pradeep and met by Mr. Laxman Pujari. Mr Pradeep was also present at the meeting. At this point they both suggested we meet the HR manager Mr. Surya Narayan. We had a telephonic talk with Mr. Surya Narayan, G.M, Human Resource Department. In the short discussion with Mr. Laxman Pujari, he told us that he had been with this group for almost thirty years and he has never faced a situation like this. There is never a problem. When asked that in a factory that employs so many workers, majority of whom are women, isn’t there any problem between managers and workers, his answer was very simple, his responsibility is only regarding production and for the targets, that is fixed by another section. Workers are competent enough to complete work in time. There is no friction as such. If at all anyone cannot complete targets they may have to take leave and go home. They have over 45,000 women working in their factories. In case somebody takes ill there is a doctor, ambulance and all necessary infrastructure. There are no problems.
The team then contacted Mr. Surya Narayan, G.M H.R dept, he conveyed that in circumstances that we were asking for the meeting, with reference to Ammu’s death it was better that we meet Mr. Rajendra Hinduja, Executive Director, Finanace and gave us his Secretary’s number. The secretary informed the team that we could meet at the Gokaldas Exports, head office at Mission Road, after 3.30pm. On reaching the head office we were able to talk to Mr. Hinduja from the the security booth. Mr. Rajendra Hinduja, Executive Director, Finanace M.D was open to meet for a discussion immediately, and said we could plan for a discussion of about half an hour. We were then given visitors passes and after our names were entered let in by the security only after reconfirming with the M.D the second time.
We were then guided to the office of Mr. Hinduja. The M.D, Mr Rajendra Hinduja, said that he was extremely concerned and was glad that we had taken the initiative to meet him. As he put it, he was himself a family man and the human relationship is way above rules and regulations. In such unfortunate circumstances it is not the rule book which decides the response but we go all out to help. He was not obliged to take care according to the rulebook as such, as Ammu worked with them for less than a month.
He was in the garment business for over 40 years, these factories did not come overnight, nor where they inherited. They came from working consistently. He started in the 1960’s and now employs 53,000 women in the Gokaldas group of companies. There is no union as the problem solving mechanisms are efficient. Dealing with loans, medical bills, and grievances are all centralized, so that no worker needs to be obliged or is forced to make favours to their immediate managers. On that day according to the reports within the factory, Ammu complained of stomach pain, and wanted to leave. There might have been a heated exchange of words between the floor manager and the Ammu. But nothing out of the ordinary, workers are told to speed up production as if one slows down the entire line is disturbed. Strong words, or harassment of any kind is not tolerated, all managers have to report back to the head office, there is a system of daily feed back and action.
As far as he was told the production manager told her to get back to work and leave at the next break. As this happened around 11.30 am she was told to leave at lunch- time so that the production is not disturbed. She finally got her out pass but did not leave, as the factory was new, she had no real friends on the floor and nobody noticed that she was missing.
Mr Hinduja was also of the opinion that the story about the suicide note was false, just as many other allegations made. Some of the earlier reports even mentioned sexual harassment. On a floor with six hundred women working together, he felt it was impossible for a manager to get away with any harassment, let alone sexual harassment. In any case, in the short tenure that she worked in this factory, the harassment here could not have been the only reason for her suicide. All the workers know that jobs are available and workers are in great demand. This locality is filled with factories, if she was unhappy here she had to just cross the road to get another job.
When asked about the background of production managers and floor managers, he responded that they all come to this position through their work experience. Almost all of them are men who have worked in various capacities before, like tailoring. He admitted that the reality in Garment industry was that the production managers had to be people who got work done from the workers and need not have any technical qualifications, as the designation indicates. The next level of managers who do not deal with the women directly are those from management backgrounds.
What was not said is their technique of managing is based on systematically forcing the work out and their language or style is not refined. This came through again when we talked to the workers.
As a matter of basic human concern he has tried and will continue to try and support Ammu’s immediate family; particularly her children and mother. On the day the incident was reported he ensured that people from the factory went to support the family. There support was both in cash and kind. He gave them some immediate relief through his staff and made sure it was handed over to the mother. He had offered jobs both to the sister and the mother in Ammu’s case. The meeting conclude with an assurance that the report of the factory on this incident with the details of action taken is forwarded to the fact finding team, along with a note on their internal systems to deal with conflict and harassment. He ensured that if as concerned civil society representatives we could put together any system to prevent such incidents from recurring then he would be keen to cooperate. The factory has clear policies to deal with sexual harassment.
Visit to the police station
The next stop was at the police station. We met the Police officer, Mr. E. Kenche Gowda at RMC Yard police Station.
The inspector we met, Mr Kenche Gowda was cordial, with the inspector offering to show all the relevant files. Asked for facts, he started saying that the girl’s mother had given a statement (signed) that her daughter had been suffering from stomach pain and that it is written in the ‘MAHAZAR’, that they had found some pills in her bag. We pointed out that in most cases of unnatural deaths of women, the tendency of the investigators was to look for medicines and then dismiss the death as suicide because the woman was suffering from “stomach ache”… when women go through difficult pregnancies and bear pain, for the police to keep saying that many women take extreme step because they cannot bear “stomach ache” sounds excessively improbable. He did not answer but during rest of our interview with him, did not mention “stomach ache” as cause of her action. He however did point out that there could be three reasons – either she had debts she could not repay due to family circumstances, she had family disputes that she could not bear or she could have been facing problems in the factory. He also denied that the management representatives of the factory, who were the complainants, had given her mother compensation in presence of the police in the police station (Both Ammu’s mother and Mr Hinduja, whom we met later, said that the settlement amount was given in the police station. The mother, who cannot read, said she was told the amount was Rs.1, 20,000, though the production manager and Mr. Hinduja indicated higher amounts).