Kerala: Kotak Bank sacks staffer for derogatory remarks on victim

India has been rocked by the gory incidents in Kathua and Unnao as students and opposition takes to the streets.(Representational Image)

Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited on Friday terminated the services of an employee citing poor performance after there was massive outrage over his derogatory remarks on the eight-year-old victim of the Kathua gangrape on social media. In a Facebook post, Vishnu Nandakumar, an assistant manager with the bank’s branch in Kochi, said: “It is good that she (the rape victim) was killed now. Otherwise, she would have come as a bomb against India.” Vishnu is reported to have deactivated his Facebook page in face of mounting protest against the “cruel” comment.

“We have terminated Vishnu Nandakumar from services of the bank on Wednesday, April 11, 2018, for poor performance. It is extremely disheartening to see such comments being made in the aftermath of such tragedy by anyone, including an ex-employee. We strongly condemn this statement,” reads a statement issued by the bank on its Facebook page on Friday evening. Son of senior RSS leader E N Nandakumar, Vishnu is also a close relative of BJP state general secretary A N Radhakrishnan.

His comments triggered an outrage on social media, with people calling for the dismissal of the “this hopeless cruel mind.” Posters, demanding action against Vishnu, also came up in front of the bank’s branch at Palarivattam in Kochi.

Meanwhile, E N Nandakumar claimed his son had resigned from the bank a month ago after he got another job. The RSS leader added that Vishnu had admitted the mistake and tendered an apology on his Facebook page.