RIYADH: An Indian worker who was beaten up by a supervisor for running to the aid of a coworker during an assault died in the early hours of yesterday in the Riyadh Medical Complex.
Sudheesh Kalathil Parambil, from the south Indian state of Kerala, was in intensive care at the hospital for 11 days after suffering internal injuries during the assault.
He was brought to the hospital by social workers who found him in a critical condition in Al-Kharj, 80 km from the capital, after he was brought there by a do-gooder.
Parambil was employed by a construction company at its worksite in Barak, about 150 km from the southern city of Khamis Mushayt.
His mother, Vasumathi, requested the Indian Embassy in Riyadh to arrange an inquiry into her son’s death. She had also called for punishment for her son’s killer.
Hours before Parambil’s death, Indian Overseas and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi had sent an urgent message to Indian Ambassador M.O.H. Farook to help investigate the case.
In response to a petition from Vasumathi, the Indian Embassy yesterday requested police action through the Foreign Ministry.
Officials from the Indian Embassy had visited the patient only four days after hospitalization.
However, according to a social worker, the mission’s welfare officer failed to take action after the assault was reported. “They woke up only after his death,” he said.
According to information received here, a worker was caught taking a short break after loading a dump truck with sand.
The supervisor, an Egyptian national, began physically assaulting the worker and so Parambil intervened on his colleague’s behalf. The supervisor then turned his rage on Parambil, beating him unconscious.
