12 bonded labourers, including 7 children, rescued from Pune jaggery unit
The raid was conducted jointly by the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA), Pune, the district administration's labour department, and Pune Rural Police.
The victims, including seven children, were found to be natives of Paithan in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar district. Their movements were restricted, and they had been facing physical abuse at the jaggery unit for the past two years, stated the DLSA officials.
Sonal Patil, secretary of DLSA, Pune, said the raid was carried out at the unit in Alegaon Paga in Shirur Taluka of Pune district based on a complaint from an NGO, Indian Labourline.
Patil said that release certificates were issued to the 12 labourers as per the directions of Principal District and Session Judge M K Mahajan.
The district administration arranged for the safe transportation of the victims to their village in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar. 'Action was taken as per the Bonded Labour Standard Operating Procedure,' said Patil, adding that the raid coincided with World Day against Trafficking in Persons, which is July 30.
The police at Shirur station filed a First Information Report (FIR) against one Sandeep Dubey, reportedly the operator of the jaggery unit, under sections of the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
In the last week of June, DLSA rescued 14 family members belonging to the Bhill tribe from a private farm in Ranjangaon – Sandas village in Shirur.
Hailing from Jalgaon and Dhule districts, the victims came to Pune for work in December 2023, but were later forced to work in extremely bad conditions for about 18 months at the farm, where they were each paid just Rs 50 for 14 hours of daily work.
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