An Indian man from the state of Kerala was fired from his job at the Lulu group after he made offensive comments on social media over the ongoing rescue and relief efforts in flood-hit Kerala.
The man, identified as Rahul Cheru Palayattu, worked a cashier at Lulu Hypermarket in Bousher in Muscat.
Responding to a social media post where someone was asking if sanitary napkins were required, Rahul wrote below asking if people required condoms too.
His comments did not go down well with a large number of people, who called him out on his insensitivity. Following this, he was also fired from his job.
“This is to inform you that we have terminated you from services with immediate effect because of your highly insensitive and derogatory comments on social media with regard to the current flood situation in Kerala, India,” a letter by the company’s HR Manager in Oman stated.
“You are hereby instructed to handover all your official responsibilities to your reporting manager immediately and to contact the accounts department for your final settlement,” the letter added.
Before he was sacked, Rahul even went live on Facebook, saying, "I apologise to everyone in Kerala. Because of my foolishness, a mistake happened on my behalf. I request everyone to forgive me. After that comment, my friends and others have been abusing me on Facebook."
Rahul also claimed that he was intoxicated when he made the comment.
"I was not in my senses. I was drunk. I may lose my job. I promise that I will not do such things on Facebook, or otherwise, ever again," he said.
The Kerala government on Sunday informed the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) that the situation in the flood-ravaged state was gradually improving, even as some rainfall was forecast for the coastal state from Monday onwards.
In the worst-ever rains seen in Kerala in this monsoon season, 370 lives have been lost and 724,649 persons evacuated to 5,645 camps so far.