Three days on, gardener succumbs to burns

Santosh Giri, 38, a gardener with the Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) hospital at Wadala, who had set himself ablaze in the office of his superior on Wednesday, succumbed to his injuries while undergoing treatment at Masina Hospital in Byculla on Saturday morning.

Santosh Giri, 38, a gardener with the Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) hospital at Wadala, who had set himself ablaze in the office of his superior on Wednesday, succumbed to his injuries while undergoing treatment at Masina Hospital in Byculla on Saturday morning.

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Giri had sustained 95% burn injuries on the day of the incident and was initially admitted to the MbPT hospital.

However, considering the seriousness of the injuries he had sustained; the doctors advised that he be shifted to Masina Hospital.

Giri’s family claimed that his superiors, Narayan Ramchandani and Sanjay Dhade, were harassing him. Even though he had been employed as a gardener, his superiors would ask him to sweep and mop the hospital premises.

He had asked them to give it to him in writing that his job description included the work that they were asking him to do but they refused.

He had also complained to the hospital authorities about the harassment, but no action was taken.

On Wednesday, Giri decided to take the matters in his own hands and went to his superior’s office around 11.30am and set himself on fire after pouring kerosene.

“Based on the allegations made by Giri’s family, we have booked Ramchandani and Dhade on charges of abetment of suicide,” said Nagash Jadhav, senior police inspector of Wadala police station.

The grade 4 employees of MbPT carried out protests in the hospital premises demanding that both Ramchandani and Dhade be removed from their jobs and Giri’s wife be employed by port trust.

Giri lived in the MbPT colony at Wadala along with his wife and two-year-old son.