Apex Footwear rebuts allegation of refusal to give maternity leave

Apex Footwear Limited yesterday issued a press statement in relation to Saturday's incident when a female worker, allegedly denied of leave, gave birth inside a toilet of a factory in Gazipur's Kaliakoir.

According to the company, Hamida Akhter, a skilled worker, suddenly fell sick in the afternoon and contacted the factory's medical centre complaining of abdominal pain.

"When the doctor asked her about the cause of the abdominal pain, she did not inform about her pregnancy," read the statement, adding that she instead took rest as per the doctor'ssuggestion and went back to work after a while.

"But after some time she started feeling the pain again and quickly went to the toilet, where she gave birth to a five month old undeveloped foetus," reads the statement.

As per the statement, the company immediately informed Hamida's relatives about the incident and took her to Kaliakoir's Modern Hospital where duty doctors provided her medical treatment.

"Before this incident she never told the factory authority about her pregnancy," reads the statement.

The statement claimed that based on wrong facts and without getting details of the incident, newspapers published reports stating Hamida gave birth to a baby inside the toilet after being denied maternity leave, which was not true.

The statement further added that Hamida had been working at the company since 2013 and last year she availed maternity leave as per the labour law and gave birth to a child.

"She also took four days sick leave last September but since then she has not applied for any sick or maternity leave," mentioned the statement.