Thiruvananthapuram: The Kotak Mahindra Bank on Friday expelled an assistant manager of one of its branch in Kerala for posting a derogatory tweet on Kathua gangrape and murder incident.

Vishnu Nandakumar, assistant manager of the Palarivattom branch of Kotak Mahindra, celebrated the death of Kathua rape victim in one of his tweets. “Good that she was killed at this age itself. Otherwise, she would have grown up and come back as a suicide bomber against India,” Vishnu tweeted.

The post has gone viral on the micro-blogging site, with several people writing to the Kotak Mahindra Bank seeking his termination. Many threatened to close their accounts at the Kotak Mahindra Bank. As anger was brewing, Kotak Mahindra Bank announced that Vishnu Nandakumar had been sacked. However, the bank said that Vishnu had terminated because of poor performance. The bank also condemned the statement made by him on Kathua incident.

“We have terminated Vishnu Nandakumar from the services of the bank on Wednesday, April 11, 2018, for poor performance. It is extremely disheartening to such comments being made in the aftermath of such tragedy by anyone including an ex-employee. We strongly condemn this statement,” the bank said in a statement. Congratulatory messages began pouring in immediately, with many also pointing out that it seemed the bank was reluctant to give away the real reason for the termination.

In January, an eight-year-old girl went missing while grazing horses in Rassana forest in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district. A week later, her body was recovered. Investigations revealed she was held captive inside a temple and was sedated before being repeatedly raped and murdered.