Three held in Andhra as minor boy kept as bonded labour dies

Hindustan Times

25-05-2025

A duck rearer in Tirupati district of Andhra Pradesh has been arrested along with his wife and son for allegedly keeping a nine-year-old tribal boy as bonded labour until his mother repaid a ₹25,000 loan and later burying his body after he reportedly died due to jaundice, police officials have said.
The case came to light when the boy's mother, Anakamma, contacted the accused, Muthu, to return his money and sought to know the whereabouts of her son. Finding Muthu's responses evasive, Anakamma approached the Tirupati police who launched a probe and found that the boy, Venkatesh, had died and his body had been buried without anyone's knowledge.
According to Anakamma's complaint, she and her husband, Chenchaiah, worked for Muthu in Satyavedu Mandal of the district until Chenchaiah's death in 2024. Following his death, Anakamma borrowed ₹25,000 from Muthu. In March this year, she sought higher wages but Muthu rejected her demand.
As she sought to leave the duck farm, Muthu sought ₹42,000 as principal and interest for money she had taken from him.
'She assured to return the money in 10 days and the owner agreed but wanted the boy as a collateral, who would continue to work. She left behind her son and spoke to her son through employer's phone. She spoke to him last on April 15,' said a police officer investigating the case.
In the last week of April, Anakamma managed to gather the money and contacted the employer, telling him she was coming to collect her son. He, however, claimed the boy went to Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu; then said he was ill and has been hospitalized, and finally, that he had run away, police said citing the complaint.
She contacted Tirupati superintendent of police Harshvardhan Raju. During investigation, the police found that the boy had died and secretly buried in Kanchipuram.
An FIR under relevant sections of the 'the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, Child Labour Act, Juvenile Justice Act, and SC/ST Atrocities Act' was filed against Muthu with his wife, Dhanabhagyam, and son, Rajshekhar, on May 19, the officer cited above said.
Venkatesh's body was exhumed from near Pali river by a joint team of Tirupati and Kanchipuram police on May 21, the officer said. The initial post-mortem examination has confirmed that he died of jaundice, the officer said, adding that there are some bruises on the body.
'We are still waiting on the final postmortem report to know the exact cause of death and preliminary reports indicate he died of jaundice. Regardless, all the accused have been arrested and sent for remand,' Raju said.