Latest news with #BondedLabourSystem(Abolition)Act
Time of India
2 days ago
- Time of India
Couple, child rescued from bonded labour in Madurai; employer booked
Madurai: A couple in bonded labour and their one-and-a-half-year-old daughter were rescued from Ananjiyur village in Madurai East taluk on Thursday by revenue officials. The couple, Raghu, 21, and Radha, 25, from Perumangalam village in Peravurani taluk, Thanjavur, worked without pay for more than five months to repay a loan of 30,000. A ccording to officials, the couple borrowed the money from a person in Thanjavur but were unable to repay the debt after their house was gutted in a fire accident. The lender subsequently handed them to another person in Madurai, who in turn sent them to Tirupathi, 40, of Angadimangalam village in Madurai. Tirupathi forced them to work in cattle grazing, claiming their loan escalated to 2.5 lakh due to high interest. Following a tip-off, a team led by Melur RDO T Sangeetha and east taluk Tahsildar Manesh Kumar, carried out an inspection and rescued the three. A complaint was filed at the Silaiman police station. Tirupathi was booked under provisions of the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act. The RDO said, "They (couple) initially borrowed 30,000 two years ago but were coerced into accepting an inflated amount of 2.5 lakh charged with exorbitant interest. Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 30 Of The Most Beautiful Women In History Undo by Taboola by Taboola They were made to work at different locations, including Thanjavur, before being brought to Madurai." For the last five months, they worked without wages and were given just one or two meals a day, and it is a clear case of bonded labour, added the RDO. She added that an interim compensation of 30,000 will be disbursed to the couple within a few days. "They currently do not have a bank account, but arrangements are being made to facilitate the payment," she said. Officials found that the couple had no proper agreement or documents related to the debt. They were unaware of the exact identities of those from whom they borrowed the money, except for some handwritten details on a piece of paper. Stay updated with the latest local news from your city on Times of India (TOI). Check upcoming bank holidays , public holidays , and current gold rates and s ilver prices in your area.
The Hindu
2 days ago
- The Hindu
Arms severed, held captive, brother of teenage victim of bonded labour pleads for justice
'I want justice for my brother,' said Jitender Kumar, even as a second surgery was performed on his younger brother, Santosh, 14, within a week at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS) in Rohtak on Thursday. The teenager, with his arm severed from the elbow and crudely bandaged, was walking along the road in Nuh on July 29 when two schoolteachers spotted him and took him to a police station. He was later shifted to the PGIMS Rohtak after a first-aid at a hospital in Nuh. Santosh later told the police that he was held captive at some place in Haryana as a bonded labourer and had severed his arm while feeding grass into a motorised chopper. Though the family had initially refused to file a police complaint, Mr. Kumar, told The Hindu over phone that the man, who had unleashed cruelty on his brother, be brought to book and punished. 'His arm was still hanging from his body, but his employer, instead of taking him to the doctor, cut it with a blade. He then made him sit inside a car, covered his face with a piece of cloth and abandoned him on a road in the evening. When my brother objected to his face being covered, he even beat him up,' said Jitender, 23, a native of Bihar's Kishanganj. Left to fend for himself, Santosh kept walking the entire night and perhaps days before he was spotted in Nuh. 'The least that his employer could do was to provide him some medical care,' said the elder brother. He, however, said his brother did not know the exact place where he was kept. Fleeing with friends Santosh had run away from his house in May along with his friends. The family then filed a missing complaint at the local police station and he was finally traced to Haryana. 'My father reached Haryana to bring him back. While the two were returning by a train, Santosh got down at Bahadurgarh railway station to fetch water and missed the train. We kept looking for him days and weeks, but to no avail. He was reunited with us only after we got a call from Haryana Police on July 31 saying that Santosh, his arms severed, was in a hospital,' said Mr. Kumar, adding that the family had been struggling to meet the various expenses. Making an appeal to the government for financial support, Mr. Kumar said that no help had come their way except a social organisation giving them ₹5,000 for medicines. 'We cannot even afford to take a room on rent and stay in the hospital,' said Mr. Kumar. He said the police team stationed at the hospital had come to them, but he has yet to lodge a formal complaint as he was pre-occupied with his brother's treatment. David Sunder Singh, panel advocate, State Human Rights Commission, Tamil Nadu, told The Hindu over phone that the victim was eligible for ₹30,000 immediate financial help as rehabilitation amount if it was proved in a probe by the Sub-Divisional Magistrate that he was a bonded labourer as per the definition contained in Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act and another ₹70,000 after the FIR was registered. He said the SDM of the place where the boy was found by the police could conduct the probe in case the exact location of his employer was not known. He added that the police could register the FIR based on the information available to them from various sources, including media reports, without waiting for a formal complaint from the family.
New Indian Express
3 days ago
- New Indian Express
40 people freed from bonded labour in Andhra Pradesh
ONGOLE: In a significant rescue operation, Prakasam district authorities, alongside police and NGO representatives, freed 40 individuals from bonded labour at two shrimp farms near Ananthavaram village of Tanguturu mandal. The rescued group comprised 17 individuals from Odisha and 23 from Chhattisgarh, including 11 women and a minor. The operation, conducted over the weekend, targeted Golden Aqua Farm and Ram Brothers Aqua Farm, with raids in Tanguturu, Pakaala, and Pasukuduru areas. Cases have been filed against the farm managements under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, and Minimum Wages Act. Prakasam Collector Thameem Ansariya issued relief certificates to the labourers and ensured their safe return to their native states, coordinating with officials from Odisha and Chhattisgarh. The rescued workers were initially moved to a relief centre in Ongole after their statements were recorded at the Tanguturu PS. The labourers, trafficked from vulnerable tribal and rural communities in Koraput and Malkangiri in Odisha, and Bastar, Dantewada, and Kanker in Chhattisgarh, were subjected to inhumane conditions. They were lured with a Rs 15,000 advance via UPI and promises of decent jobs, and faced exploitation upon arrival.
The Hindu
4 days ago
- The Hindu
40 people freed from bonded labour in Prakasam district
Nearly 40 people, including 17 from Odisha and 23 from Chhattisgarh, who were working as bonded labourers in two shrimp factories at Tanguturu mandal in Prakasam district, were rescued. District Collector A. Thameem Ansaria handed over relief certificates to them at her camp office in Ongole on Tuesday. She directed the officials of relevant departments to take steps to ensure that the victims receive their due amounts as per the law for their period of service, and to provide special transport facilities to send them back to their native places. The details of the victims were provided by Ongole Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) K. Lakshmi Prasanna. According to an information received from Bastar District Collector in Chhattisgarh, the Prakasam district administration officials realised that people had been doing hard work at the factories under bonded labour. The officials tracked the victims with the help of voluntary organisations and rescued them on Monday. The RDO revealed that the victims, including minors, were forced into the bonded labour by a middleman. 'They were not provided proper accommodation, food or even money for their work. A case was registered against the two shrimp factories under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, Child Labour (Prohibition) Act and Minimum Wages Acts, and action will be taken,' she said. She added that a special bus has been arranged for the victims to go back to their their native places, along with the officials from Bastar district. Prakasam Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Project Director S. Suvarna, Assistant Commissioner of Labour (Kandukuru) M. Koteswara Rao, and Assistant Labour Officer Mary Sujatha participated in the programme.
Indian Express
01-08-2025
- Indian Express
12 bonded labourers, including 7 children, rescued from Pune jaggery unit
Twelve workers, including seven children, were rescued from a jaggery-making unit in Pune district on Wednesday, July 30, during a bonded labour rescue operation. 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.
