Police indifferent, escaped bonded labourers peeved
By A R Meyyammai, The Indian Express , 28 August, 2006
Madurai, Aug 27: It appears to be a distant dream for the gullible villagers of the southern districts to get relieved from the clutches of Maharashtra based ‘Murukku’ employers, thanks to police indifference.
Though an open secret that many children in the villages of this region are hired as bonded labourers by the mmurukku makers in North India, the ‘great’ escape of four boys from Rathinagiri taluk in Maharashtra recently has once again asserted the prevalence of bonded labour menace in Nilakottai in Dindigul district.
The services of 14 year olds Rajashekar and Pandi, and 17-year-old Saravanan and Karthik, all related to each other, and belonging to Karuthanipatti, were mortgaged by their parents for a sum of Rs 40,000 for two years to one Pandithurai of Duraisamipuram pudur, near Usilampatti, who rens a murukku unit in Rathinagiri.
Packed off to Maharashtra in September 2005, the boys made good their escape last month after having undergone torture at the hands of the creditor for nearly a year. With bruises all over his body, puny Rajashekar narrates their tale of woes; “Our work time begins at 3 am and goes on till 1 am. We make murukku in the firewood stove, then prepare appalam, jangiri and alddu. We are given limited gruel with onion twice a day, at 1 pm and 6 pm. And our toilet time is 2 pm.
There has never been a change in the hazardous work schedule for these boys.
They learnt to existamidst the heat of the burning charcoal and firewood and accepted the denial of freedom of movements with ease for sake a their parents. Bearing the day – to-day physical torture meted out to them by Pandithurai was also a part of their routine.
But when Saravanan was locked up in a room and beaten nearly to death by pandithurai for the delay in preparing the dough, the other three boys realised the seriousness.
“He(Saravanan) urinated in the room out of a pain and fear and was in an unconscious stage,” says Rajashekar brimming with tears.
Jaya, Saravanan’s mother, who lost her husband ten years back, cries, “His groin is swollen.And, I have no money to treat him.”
The foursome managed to escape from Rathnagiri in the absence of their master only to be abused by the police.Their parents and some of the villagers took them to the Vilampatti police station and the police. According to jaya, did not entertain their compliant . Chokkar,the village elder says, “the police abused us and pushed us out. They demanded that the poor parents pay the money back to Pandithurai.”
Kathir of Evidence says, “The justification of the police is unfounded. Cases should be registered under the Bonded Labour System (abolition) Act, 1976, and the child labour Act.” He wants the RDO to arrange for bonded labour release certificate and make relief available to the victims.
Unmindful of their fate, these children voice for the release of over hundred children of this region lingering in the “murukku’ units in Rathnagiri taluk. Are revenue officials listening?