Maruti union members pool Rs9 lakh for wedding of jailed worker’s sister

Members of the Maruti Udyog Kamgar and other unions donated Rs9 lakh for the wedding of the sister of a worker who was sentenced to life imprisonment by the district court

Members of Maruti Udyog Kamgar and other workers’ unions of Manesar, Rewari and Gurgaon donated around Rs9 lakh for the wedding of the sister of a worker who was sentenced to life imprisonment by the district court on March 18.

The district court had convicted 31 of the 148 jailed workers in the 2012 Maruti violence recently. (Sanjeev Verma/HT Photo)

The workers and union members held a meeting on Sunday and donated the amount collected to the father of the jailed worker, Sandeep Dhillon, to arrange for the wedding on March 26.

The district court had convicted 31 of the 148 jailed workers in the 2012 Maruti violence in which Awanish Kumar Dev, general manager (human resources) of Maruti Suzuki, was burnt to death and several executives injured.

Of the 31, the court sentenced 13 workers to life imprisonment and four others to five year imprisonment. However, most of them have already served around four years in jail. The remaining accused were fined and released later.

Ramniwas, of Maruti Manesar provisional committee, said, “We appealed to Bhondsi jail superintendent to allow Sandeep to attend his sister’s wedding, but our request was turned down. We then decided to collect the money for the wedding.”

Members of various unions attended the marriage at Sandeep’s hometown in Jind district.

“We tried our best but could not fulfil Sandeep’s wish to attend his sister’s wedding. We knew about his family’s poor financial condition and went to Jind to attend the wedding,” said Kuldeep Singh Jhangu, general secretary, Maruti Udyog Kamgaar Union.

He added that the union is thinking of moving a petition in the Punjab and Haryana high court against the conviction of the 31 workers.