"Worker at H&M supply factory was killed after months of harassment, claims family", 1 February 2021

The family of a young garment worker at an H&M supplier factory in Tamil Nadu who was allegedly murdered by her supervisor said she had suffered months of sexual harassment and intimidation on the factory floor in the months before her death...

H&M said it is launching an independent investigation into the killing of Jeyasre Kathiravel, a 20-year-old Dalit garment worker at an H&M supplier Natchi Apparels in Kaithian Kottai, Tamil Nadu, who was found dead on 5 January...

According to police reports, a man working as a supervisor at Natchi Apparels has reportedly confessed and been charged with her abduction and murder. Her family allege that she was also raped and are awaiting the result of a forensic report...

“Her family and co-workers have told us that Jeyasre was being harassed at work but nothing was done,” said Thivya Rakini, state president of the Tamil Nadu Textile and Common Labour Union... “Many workers we have spoken to say they are facing the same problems but either don’t know how to report grievances against their supervisors or say they are afraid if they speak out they will face retaliation.”

The factory is owned by Eastman Exports, India’s fourth largest garment export company, which is a large supplier to H&M and other western brands...

[I]nternational labour rights groups... claim that H&M’s apparent failure to police its own codes of conduct on gender-based violence or to ensure that there was a “responsible process” after Kathiravel’s murder had put the family and other women working in its supply chain at risk... [and] accuse H&M of failing to adequately intervene to stop the alleged intimidation of Kathiravel’s bereaved family by Eastman Exports managers... [T]he family say they faced mounting pressure to accept financial compensation and sign documents releasing the... supplier of any responsibility for Kathiravel’s death...

H&M... sent condolences to the family and said: “The trade unions involved have explicitly asked us not to terminate the business relationship with the supplier in question, and instead actively work to strengthen the workplace safety. We are therefore in close contact with the supplier and have set some immediate and urgent actions that we expect them to complete in order to demonstrate how they can guarantee a workplace free from harassment.”...