Subscribe to our Telegram channel for our latest stories and breaking news.
Editor’s Note: The article has been updated to correct a translation.
Masala Wheels, a well-known social enterprise in Petaling Jaya, was raided by the enforcement officers from the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Human Resources following serious accusations
The accusations were shared by a former worker during a live-streaming session hosted by popular South Indian actress Lakshamy Ramakrishnan on her YouTube channel.
The live-streaming session was joined by Human Resources Minister M Saravanan and an Indian national identified as Velayutham, who said that he was a former employee of the restaurant.
During it, Velayutham claimed that, while he was working at Masala Wheels here, he was physically and mentally abused by one of the owners of the well-known social enterprise.
According to the former worker, who returned to India recently, Masala Wheels has five owners.
Of the five, a person, whom Velayutham identified by name, likes to indulge in torture by burning and sodomising the workers. He also physically assaults them, according to the former worker.
A report in Malaysiakini stated that the raid by enforcement officers was carried out on Thursday.
Image via Lakshmy Ramakrishnan/YouTube
Prior to the live-streaming session with Saravanan, the former worker had gone on a Tamil TV talk show to expose the social enterprise
According to Velayutham, he and another Indian were abused by one of the owners.
He said that he used a tourist visa to come to Malaysia in 2018 and was asked to work at the restaurant until he could obtain a work permit within six months. He was not paid any salary for the duration.
During the talk show, Velayutham said that he served food and cleaned the toilet there and that he and other workers were forced to start work as early as 5am and continue until midnight.
He worked at Masala Wheels for about 18 months and was always scared for his life.
Fearing that the owner might kill him, he would listen and do whatever he was told.
“The workers are always beaten and their salaries are not paid. To make matters worse, my passport was also burned and they treated me like a slave. Not just me but other employees as well,” he said.
Velayutham also claimed that when there would be young boys who come to work and have permit problems, the owner would use this to take advantage of the situation and sodomise them.
According to him, when a young worker was not able to take it and tried to raise their voice on 7 March (Velayutham did not specify the year), the owner brought petrol and burned him around the waist.
The owner also warned the workers to not tell the doctor what had happened and lie that the young worker’s injuries were caused by an explosion of the cylinder due to the negligence of the worker himself.
Velayutham said that he had to comply with the owner’s demands as he did not have a work permit. However, he later sought assistance from the Indian Embassy to enable him to obtain a passport.
Amidst the accusations and the enforcement raid, Masala Wheels has released a statement, saying that it involved only a beneficiary
In the statement earlier today, 19 June, the social enterprise said that the allegations by the foreign worker were ongoing and only involved an associate, who has been temporarily suspended.
“It is unfortunate that our organisation has been dragged into an ongoing allegation involving a beneficiary and a foreign worker. These are serious allegations and as a social enterprise that has been built on premises of assisting and empowering communities in need, we feel it is important for the truth to prevail,” the statement said, adding that they will cooperate with the authorities “to address the false allegations”.
According to Masala Wheels, the associate involved has been temporarily relieved from the duty to assist in the ongoing due diligence by the relevant authorities and that in the meantime, the social enterprise will “continue operating as usual to continue impacting the lives of many beneficiaries that with us”.
In a tweet that carried the statement, Masala Wheels stated their “lawyers are working on a defamation suit” and that the HR Minister has given a prelim finding that no misconduct was found against them.
The auth have investigated the matter and will be releasing a statement soon. The HR Minister has given a prelim finding that no misconduct found against the organization. Only involving a former beneficiary, who has turned himself in. Our lawyers are working on a defamation suit pic.twitter.com/GOhWyyv3A1
— masalawheels (@masalawheels) June 19, 2021
Meanwhile, HR Minister Saravanan, during the live-streaming session, assured that the Malaysian government will hold discussions on the issue of foreign workers from India and their rights in Malaysia
“We have good relations with the Tamil Nadu Government. I assure you that we will hold discussions on the issue of foreign workers after the termination of the movement control order (MCO,” he said.