MUMBAI: Hotels and Restaurants Association Western India (HRAWI) on Wednesday said a Virar hotelier died recently due to “loss of livelihood’’. “The hotelier was being hounded by debtors and with no means or source of income to pay off the same, was coerced into taking his own life. This is one of a string of incidents where owners of hospitality establishments succumbed to mental stress caused by financial losses,” said a statement by the association.
HRAWI opposed the “unfair and unjustified imposition’’ of pandemic restrictions on hotels and restaurants, and it urged the state government to either allow them to run businesses as usual or offer concessions. “Over the last year and a half, similar incidents have occurred, and the underlying reason has been the same. Financial loss caused by lockdown and continued restrictions have taken away the right of earning a livelihood,” it said.
