23 men, 9 women lured with stable job promises, held captive at sugarcane farm

Mysuru: In a major operation, 32 migrant workers, including nine women, were rescued from alleged bonded labour at a sugarcane farm in Ramapura village of Hanur taluk on Sept. 1.

The group comprises 23 men and nine women, who are not related to one another. Thirty of them are from 17 districts of Tamil Nadu, while one is from Bihar and another from Andhra Pradesh.

The rescue operation was carried out by the District Administration, Labour Department and other departments following information about the workers being subjected to exploitation.

An FIR has been registered at Ramapura Police Station under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita concerning wrongful confinement and assault, and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

These workers had been employed at different sugarcane farms in Chamarajanagar and Tamil Nadu for periods ranging from three months to eight years.

They told officials that they were recruited after being approached at railway stations and bus stands in Tamil Nadu with promises of well-paid jobs in Karnataka.

Assault, phones confiscated

The workers alleged that they were subsequently transported between farms by a network of traffickers and forced to work without wages.

They claimed that their mobile phones were confiscated and that they were prevented from leaving the worksites or contacting their families.

Several workers told officials that attempts to escape were foiled after they were traced and brought back to the farms, where they were allegedly beaten.

The workers described harsh working conditions, saying they were made to cut sugarcane from around 6 am to 7.30 pm, followed by loading work that sometimes continued until 10 pm or midnight.

Inhumane condition

They alleged that they were given no rest apart from meal breaks and that those who fell ill were denied medical treatment and made to continue working.

They also alleged that they were beaten with sugarcane for minor mistakes or when they asked to return home.

The labourers said, they had no proper shelter and were provided only a tarpaulin sheet to sleep on. Their food allegedly consisted mainly of rice gruel and chillies, and occasionally sambar. They claimed, they were allowed to bathe only once in about 20 days and were not provided with a change of clothes.

Release certificates

Chamarajanagar Assistant Commissioner Dinesh Kumar Meena issued release certificates to all 32 workers on Sept. 4 and initiated steps for their safe repatriation. They are currently staying at a Government hostel in Chamarajanagar.

Preliminary investigation has pointed to an inter-State trafficking network operating across Tamil Nadu, with several intermediaries allegedly involved in recruiting and transporting workers.

Three persons identified by the rescued labourers as key players in the recruitment and transportation process are absconding.

One of the rescued workers, Sharavanan, told officials that he had received an advance of Rs. 20,000 from one of the accused at his residence in Puducherry. He was taken first to Erode, where he worked for about four days, before being shifted to Ramapura.