The Avissawella police’s inquiry into the death of Pushpalatha Paramasivam, a Brandix sewing machine operator, is over a month late. A judge ordered the police to present the report by April 17th.
Forty-four-year-old Paramasivam’s death was sudden, and unexpected. Sivakumar Govindasami, her husband, told The Examiner he got a call when he was at work, at an estate in Ruwanwella. His mother-in-law told him Paramasivam was at the Avissawella hospital, having been taken ill from work. He packed some clothes for her, and reached the hospital by 6.30pm. Five hours later, Paramasivam passed away.
Seven months since her death, Govindasami suspects that her death was avoidable. He claims Brandix hadn’t let her leave before her shift finished even though she was ill. But Brandix says she was taken to hospital soon after falling sick.
While the exact circumstances of the case are still being established, irregular investigations are making it hard to assess what really happened inside the factory on October 10th.
Govindasami's doubts first emerged soon after his wife’s death. At the Avissawella hospital he was told not to cremate the body. When Paramasivam’s colleagues told him she had been sick throughout the day, Govindasami's suspicions grew.
Paramasivam’s initial death inquiry, seen by The Examiner, listed her death as “accidental”.
When a death is “accidental” the police must investigate and file their findings in court. Although Paramasivam died in Avissawella, the Ruwanwella police investigated the case first. Calling this an error, the Ruwanwella magistrate ordered the Avissawella police to investigate the matter and file findings in the correct court — Avissawella.
But Sanjeewa Mahagedara, the Avissawella acting OIC, told The Examiner that “to his knowledge”, the Avissawella police “isn’t conducting an investigation”. “I heard it was a heart attack so then the inquiry would end there.”
Mahagedara claims they haven’t received the court order to investigate the case.
Conflicted JMOs
The junior Judicial Medical Officer, JMO, who conducted the post-mortem is a consultant for Brandix, having started working for the company two years ago. They employ her to visit the factory on occasion and conduct check-ups on the staff.
Govindasami questions whether the JMO’s conflict of interest led to manipulation of the medical findings. Brandix says the JMO visits several factories in the area, not just theirs, and that the connection was purely “coincidental”.
Menaka Kumari, the JMO, said that she didn’t know Paramasivam worked for Brandix and was simply doing her duty as the on-call doctor at the Avissawella hospital. But Govindasami doesn’t believe her. He claims Kumari recognised his wife.
The government doesn’t prohibit JMOs from private practice. But a senior JMO at a leading hospital notes that it’s “unethical” for the doctor conducting the post mortem into a worker’s death to also be on the payroll of the company they worked for.
