• Provided shelter and Rs. 30,000 aid each 

• Brick kiln owners sent to Judicial Custody 

Mysuru: The 18 bonded labourers rescued from an illegal brick kiln at Bevinahalli village in Sosale hobli of T. Narasipur taluk have been provided temporary rehabilitation and immediate relief of Rs. 30,000 each, besides being issued official release certificates. 

The rehabilitation process was overseen by Principal District and Sessions Judge of Mysuru Usha Rani, who is also the Chairperson of the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA), along with DLSA Member-Secretary Nagaraj Siddappa Ankasadoddi, Mysuru Assistant Commissioner Ashappa and T. Narasipur Tahsildar Sureshachar. 

The officials met the rescued labourers, heard their grievances and distributed release certificates. The compensation was sanctioned from the Mysuru District Administration’s corpus fund. 

The rescue operation was carried out following directions from the DLSA, with the participation of the T. Narasipur taluk administration, NGO Madilu and International Justice Mission (IJM). 

Those rescued include Muthanna, 30 and his wife Jyothi, 24, originally from Tamil Nadu and currently residing in Bevinahalli, along with their two sons aged 13 and 9.  

The other rescued were Chennamma, 50, Armugam, 25, Ganesha, 25, Rajeshwari, 22, Nagamma, 32, Mallika, 40, Suresha, 27, Prema, 23, Satheesha, 26, Laxmi, 24, Chandru, 60, Channamma, 52, Amuda, 34 and Veluvanadha, 36. They were rescued during a raid conducted on Monday morning. 

Based on the findings of the raid, Bannur Police have registered a case against brick kiln owners Yathiraj, Girish and Mahadev. The accused have been arrested and remanded to Judicial Custody. 

Muthanna and Jyothi, who were allegedly assaulted by the owners, were treated at the Government Hospital in Bannur. All the rescued labourers underwent medical examinations before being accommodated temporarily at the Social Welfare Department hostel in T. Narasipur. 

“Tentative rehabilitation has been arranged at the Social Welfare Department hostel and immediate relief has been provided to all the rescued labourers,” said Tahsildar Sureshachar.