Two Women, One Killer
On the face of it June Hancock and Nirmala Gurung had very little in common. They lived on different continents, thousands of miles apart. June died in 1997, age 61; Nirmala was 67 when she died in 2020. June lived in Armley, Leeds, UK and Nirmala in Kymore, Madhya Pradesh State, India.
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| June Hancock. Picture courtesy of the JHMRF. |
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| Nirmala Gurung. Picture courtesy of Daniel Lambo. |
Upon closer inspection, however, June and Nirmala had a great deal in common. Factories belonging to the British asbestos conglomerate Turner & Newall were located in both their home towns. Both women were, like other local people, exposed to carcinogenic fibers liberated by the asbestos plants. June died from mesothelioma, the signature asbestos cancer and Nirmala from asbestosis, recognized in 1927 as the first disease caused by asbestos exposure. 1
Once their diagnoses had been confirmed both women fought back. June lodged a landmark case against Turner & Newall (T&N): no one had ever won a claim for environmental asbestos exposure in the UK before. The legal battle to hold T&N to account for the deadly conditions in Armley was protracted and fierce. In the judgment handed down on October 27, 1995, Mr. Justice Holland referred to the defendants’ behaviour:
“I presently explain the discovery history as being of a piece with other features of the conduct of the defence – that is, as reflecting a wish to contest these claims by any means possible, legitimate or otherwise, so as to wear them down by attrition. Thus it has not just been with respect to discovery that the Defendants have remorselessly persisted in taking bad points, apparently simply to obstruct the Plaintiffs’ road, heedless of the inevitably adverse effect upon the trial judge.”
The judge was convinced that asbestos contamination of the residential area around the factory was extensive: “there is no doubt but that every process in varying degree gave off dust... there was at all material times, a substantial emission of dust from factory premises.” Furthermore, Holland ruled, the defendants owed the local children a duty of care:
“there was knowledge, sufficient to found reasonable foresight on the part of the Defendants, that children were particularly vulnerable to personal injury arising out of inhalation of asbestos dust...reasonably practicable steps were not taken to reduce or prevent inhalation of emitted asbestos dust.”
Holland established that the date of corporate knowledge regarding the deadly effects of human asbestos exposures should be set at 1933.2 Considering that the Armley and Kymore asbestos factories were run by T&N subsidiaries, it is almost certain that T&N’s UK decision-makers shared this “guilty” knowledge with their counterparts in Kymore.
Nirmala, who worked as a teacher at a school on the factory premises, described the daily experience of living with high levels of asbestos pollution as follows:
“During the dry season dry asbestos dust particles even blew into the classrooms. Parents and children used to come into the classroom covered with dust. The owners and workers in the UK and Belgium certainly knew about the hazards of asbestos but did not inform the community.”3
Nirmala was a formidable campaigner, working with grassroots activists at home and film-makers from abroad to raise awareness of the price paid by workers and communities for the asbestos industry’s profits. In 2017, she addressed the United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights in Geneva, Switzerland. On her first trip to Europe, she stood undaunted in the huge conference hall and told the 2,000 delegates in attendance:
“I have seen many victims dying slowly and painfully. It’s really horrible to watch a healthy person turn into a skeleton. I wish the coming generation must be saved from this and that first and foremost there is a need for the proper treatment of the asbestos wastage which the factory dumped in the surrounding populated area. Asbestos must be banned and those suffering from asbestos diseases should be compensated.”
Barrister Krishnendu Mukherjee accompanied Nirmala on that trip and spoke warmly of her participation: “The courage that she showed in coming to Geneva to highlight the issue of asbestos waste in her village was inspiring and her legacy will remain.”4 Footage of Nirmala’s Geneva experience was featured in the 2018 prize-winning Belgian documentary Breathless, and a photograph of her was used to publicize the film.5
In recent weeks there has been an outpouring of media coverage in the UK and India about the high incidence of asbestos-related diseases and the extensive asbestos pollution in Kymore.6 I would like to think of June and Nirmala sharing a cup of tea while they looked down with wonder at the “discovery” of what they both knew decades ago. We will not forget them.
October 13, 2026
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1 Kazan-Allen, L. Remembering June Hancock. British Asbestos Newsletter. Issue 67. Summer 2007.
http://www.britishasbestosnewsletter.org/ban67.htm#n3
Kazan-Allen, L. Remembering Nirmala Gurung. September 18, 2020.
https://www.ibasecretariat.org/lka-remembering-nirmala-gurung.php
2 Kazan-Allen, L. Victory for British Asbestos Plaintiffs. British Asbestos Newsletter. Issue 22. Winter, 1996.
http://www.britishasbestosnewsletter.org/ban22.htm
3 In the 1980s, T&N sold the Kymore factory to Eternit Everest Ltd., a subsidiary of the Belgium asbestos multinational, Etex.
Mukherjee, K. The Legacy of the European Asbestos Industry Continues in India. October 20, 2016.
https://ibasecretariat.org/km-legacy-of-european-asbestos-industry-continues-in-india.php
4 Kazan-Allen, L. Remembering Nirmala Gurung. September 18, 2020.
https://www.ibasecretariat.org/lka-remembering-nirmala-gurung.php
YouTube. Remembering Nirmala Gurung. September 18, 2020,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2fLSjBX5AY&feature=youtu.be
5 Breathless.
http://www.lambofilms.com/productions/breathless
6 Holder, S. and Omari, J. Inside one of India’s most toxic towns – polluted by a British company. September 17, 2026.
https://www.itv.com/news/2026-09-17/inside-one-of-indias-most-toxic-towns-polluted-by-a-british-company?
fbclid=IwY2xjawUkb5BleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBwZG9mBWJyaWQRMWQ1WWUyRHpnMnBwalFQWjVzcnRjBmFwcF9pZB
AyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeYWxF31-ZsS51th49ttB0kqu3ydGuSW2VLf9cuI3XInZmQ0FY2fI85NQCPas_aem_MOJKJmDJnhmhfTGOORd0Vw
ITV report says asbestos waste in Kymore still endangers residents. September 17, 2026.
https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/asbestos-waste-kymore-itv-report-turner-and-newall-madhya-pradesh-ptag-2997159-2026-09-17
ITV News. Inside the Indian town poisoned by tonnes of asbestos. September 24, 2026.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOdSX2b-grw
Naveen, P. Kymore’s asbestos legacy: Thousands diagnosed, but govt has no health map. September 25, 2026.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bhopal/thousands-diagnosed-but-govt-has-no-health-map-british-giants-toxic-legacy-still-ails-mps-kymore-town/articleshow/134475890.cms
Naveen, P. School on Brit factory’s premises at heart of asbestos exposure row. September 26, 2026.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bhopal/school-on-brit-factorys-premisesat-heart-of-asbestos-exposure-row/amp_articleshow/134498543.cms
Urban Acres. School’s exposure history remains undocumented. Kymore Asbestos Exposure Reveals a Dangerous School Records Gap. September 26, 2026.
https://urbanacres.in/kymore-asbestos-exposure-reveals-a-dangerous-school-records-gap/
Naveen, P. TOI Impact: MPPCB starts probe into Kymore asbestos landfill, 700 more claims in the works.September 29, 2026.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bhopal/toi-impact-mppcb-starts-probe-into-kymore-asbestos-landfill-700-more-claim-files-in-the-works/articleshow/134550155.cms
Asbestos waste from a former British firm blights Madhya Pradesh town: UK media probe. October 2, 2026.
https://www.counterview.net/2026/10/asbestos-waste-from-former-british-firm.html
