A fisherwoman on Tuesday complained of harassment by the employees of the LDF-ruled Attingal Municipality here who allegedly threw away a portion of the fish, which she kept for sale on the road and carried away the rest in their garbage truck.
The middle-aged woman Alphonsa said she was selling fish by sitting on the wayside in a place under the Municipality limit. The visuals, aired by television channels, showed the woman pleading with the Municipality personnel in their khaki uniform not to throw away the fish as selling fish was the only source of living for her to support a five-member family.
In the visuals, which later went viral on social media platforms, she could also be seen trying to stop the men from throwing away the fish and falling down on the road finally. She was later taken to a nearby taluk hospital by the local people.
The woman, who lodged a complaint with the police against the Municipality staff, said thousands of rupees of fish was destroyed by them. “I have no other source of income. My five-member family is living with the money which I get from selling fish.
I am doing this job as I have no other means to live and look after my family. They have destroyed everything,” she said. However, S Kumari, chairperson of the Municipality, rejected the charges of cruelty to the fisherwoman and said there were complaints from the local people against wayside fish sale.
Fish sale could be permitted only in the market and it was already conveyed to her, Municipality sources added. Meanwhile, the Attingal police said they received the complaint by the fisherwoman and action would be taken after verifying all aspects.
