An electrician (Bittu) working in Sonu Exim set himself on fire inside the company’s premises. He was working with the company for over a decade and was close to Ved Prakash Goyal, Director of the company. Zara, which is one of the major clients of the company, took urgent notice of the sad incident. The Spanish brand asked the company to provide detailed report of the incident and its team visited the factory, explored all the video footage. The electrician, who was immediately admitted to hospital, is out of danger.
The sad incident took place in the company’s Delhi-based head office/factory where about 250 workers are employed. According to the factory sources, Bittu went to Director’s office and asked for due money from the company. However, after a little argument, he put oil on himself and set himself on fire. The factory has handed over the video footage to the police and the investigation is going on.
Abhay, a senior official of Sonu Exim told Apparel Resources, “Bittu used to drink every time and company warned him and also counselled him, but he continued drinking. He resigned 3 years back and later requested to join the company again. He used to borrow money from fellow workers. Last month (September) he took advance from company and now he wanted to quit. He was asking to clear his due and the company made it clear to him that there are no dues left.”
He further added that reasons are not clear that why he set himself on fire and only few factory officials were present there at the time of the incident. Whatever allegations and comments Bittu made in his complaint, are false. Apparel Resources approached Zara team on the incident and we are still awaiting a response from their side. We will update you as soon as we get response.
Notably, more than two decades old, Sonu Exim is one of the well-known apparel exporters of Delhi. The company with 6 factories across Delhi and Noida works with leading brands and companies like Zara, Only, Vero Moda etc.
