A week after a sub-registrar forced an ailing cancer patient to reach the office located on the third floor of Kattappana Mini Civil Station in Idukki district, the Kerala government has suspended her. The move comes after Saneesh Joseph, the cancer patient, passed away a day after the incident, on August 7.
Kattappana sub-registrar G Jayalakshmi has been suspended following a preliminary inquiry, said Kerala Minister for Public Works and Registration G Sudhakaran on his Facebook page. The Minister also said that procedures have been initiated to dismiss the sub-registrar for her ‘inhumane’ action.
It was on August 6 that Saneesh, who was in a critical condition, visited the Kattappana Mini Civil Station for the registration of property documents. He was working as a driver at the Karunapuram village panchayat office in the district.
According to Madhyamam, since his condition was worsening, Saneesh wanted to transfer the property in his name to his wife. Due to the COVID-19 situation, the registration process could not be completed at his house. Since he was ailing, his family brought him to the sub-registrar office in an ambulance.
Karunapuram panchayat president and other relatives then requested the sub-registrar to complete the procedure in the ambulance itself. According to the Minister, Jayalakshmi was adamant that Saneesh report at the office for the registration. Saneesh was then carried on a chair to the office on the third floor. It was only after this that the officer started the registration process.
“The next day, Saneesh succumbed to cancer,” the Minister wrote on Facebook.
Calling it inhumane, Minister Sudhakaran said, “Saneesh’s presence in the premises should have been treated as his presence in the office, accordingly, the required procedure should have been initiated per the law.”
Minister Sudhakaran took note of the incident following a stir on social media over Saneesh’s death.
“I have directed the Joint Secretary of the Tax Department to conduct a detailed probe against the Sub Registrar for tainting the image of the department due to her merciless behaviour towards a patient who was on his deathbed,” said the Minister.
He also added that officers should try to interpret laws with a tinge of humanity. “Majority of the officers work in a helpful manner to the public. The Left government will not compromise or show mercy to anyone who behaves mercilessly to people like Saneesh,” he said in the post.