I reside in Mira Road and visited Subiksha, Shop No. 123, Flat No. 1, Shanti Shopping Centre, Opp Mira Road Railway Stn, Mira Road (E), on Saturday, 29/03/08 at 7.33 p.m. with my husband.

While selecting the pulses in the pulses section, the cat reared by the staff bit me on the left leg. There were two bites and a few scratches. There was blood oozing from one wound which was witnessed by the staff. As the Manager was not in his seat at the time of this incident, I communicated this to the lady at the billing counter. She said that the cat was reared by Subiksha to kill the rats and prevent them from attacking the foodgrains.

I went to a Dr. immediately for a tetanus injection. The Dr. told us to start 5 doses of anti-rabies injection from the next day itself. She told us that this is a must if the cat is not given the vaccine or is not registered with the appropriate authorities. The cat can be rabid if it is used to eating rats. Rabies is a fatal disease and post-exposure treatment is a must. The name of the injection/vaccine is Rabipur and cost of each injection is Rs. 369.00.

After visiting the Dr. and taking second opinion from another Dr. I, alongwith my husband, went back to Subiksha at 9.00 p.m. the same day and met the Manager, Mr. Sohen Chandra Bose. (Mobile No. 9423908598) who was in his seat. We told him that Subiksha will have to reimburse the entire medical expenses which sums upto approx. Rs. 2000/- We told him that the fault lies with Subiksha for rearing a cat and letting it loose to I have become a victim. Letting an animal loose in a retail shop is hazardous for the customers. This is nothing but sheer careless/negligence on the part of the Subiksha management. He consulted his senior, Mr. Deepak, who instructed him to throw the cat out. He told us that he’ll get back to us after talking to his other seniors the next day. He didn’t.

We went on Sunday (30/03/08) to submit a letter to the Subiksha Management to submit it to their Head Office at Chennai, on this incident. Mr. Sohen refused to accept the letter. Mr. Sohen told us that he has been transferred and that one Mr. Meraj will take his place.. Then he put me on a call which was answered by a Mr. Deepak, who only argued and said that Subiksha will accept no letter from anyone nor will Subiksha reimburse any expenses. I asked Mr. Sohen about the whereabouts of the cat to which he didn’t reply and told us to take whatever action we wanted. We left. After 10 minutes, Mr. Sohen called my husband and said that the Vice President has agreed to reimburse the bills and that we should not take any legal action. He told us to submit the bills on Monday. On Monday, 31/03/08. at 9.00 p.m. we went to submit the bills. The staff told us that Mr. Miraj had already left and after my husband called Mr. Sohen, he told us to give the bills to Mr. Sharik at Subiksha(Tel. No.65979250).He refused to give us the contact numbers of Mr. Miraj and Mr. Deepak. Mr. Sharik said that he will submit the bills to Mr. Deepak and the amount will be reimbursed the next day and that he would call my husband. As there was no reply from them, my husband called Mr. Sohen on Tuesday, 1/04/08. He said that Mr. Sharik must have given the bills to Mr. Deepak and must have taken the money. Today, Wednesday, 2/04/08, when my husband called Mr. Sharik, he said that Mr. Meraj is not available and Mr. Deepak is unavailable hence he could not get the amount of the bill.

This is an episode well enacted by the Subiksha management (Mr. Sohen Chandra Bose, Mr. Deepak, Mr. Meraj and Mr. Sharik) and their staff to save their skin so that the consumer is harassed and the incident is forgotten. I can no longer wait for their next episode.

I want this incident to be published as I want it to reach the CEO of Subiksha, at its Head Office at Chennai as Subiksha has neither a website nor an email address where I can contact the Chennai office. I hope the CEO takes some action on the negligence of his management and reimburse my medical expenses.

I go to Subiksha because it offers savings and I ended up with a huge loss plus physical pain and stress to me due to the bites and stratches, which has affected my health. I have taken two doses of rabipur till date and I am already suffering from the contradictions of this vaccine - fever, headache, nausea, knee joint pains, diarhhoea, etc. This visit has affected us physically, psychologically and financially.

Maria F. Castellino