Cyclone Gaja Victim Slapped and Humiliated by Authorities

On the 15^th of November, Karur district of Tamil Nadu was hit by a severe Cyclonic storm Gaja. This was the fifth cyclone in the 2018 North Indian Ocean Cyclone season. The entire town was in unrest as many of them had lost their homes and their family members and relatives. The residents of the town had decided to seek help from the government in order to help them rebuild their houses. The people that were affected by the Cyclone Gaja were protesting outside Karu district’s collector office.

One of the families that were a part of the protest was humiliated and insulted by the authorities of the collector’s office. The family had lost not one but two of their relatives and were demanding help from the government. A video of an official first shoving the families out of the office premises and then slapping one of them was seen. This inhuman behavior of the authorities towards the victims who didn’t have the time to recover from their loss was not expected.

Another victim of the cyclone reported that she had called 108 after her a tree fell on her house and when her husband went outside to check, it fell on him too. She mentioned that when she called the emergency number, the authorities did nothing to help her in the situation. She said, “A tree fell on our house so my husband went outside to check but the branch fell on him as well. I called 108 but they said they were coming and the road is blocked due to a fallen tree so they couldn’t come.” She further said, “The government should do something for the plight of me and my son or you can kill us too!”

The elder brother of the deceased also passed away in shock of his younger brother’s demise due to a fallen tree. The same was reported to the authorities as they asked for help but nobody has turned up to talk to the victims or help them in any manner.