Eight persons, including two teenagers and a girl child, who worked as bonded labourers at a rice mill at Tiruttani in Tiruvallur district were rescued on Friday by Revenue officials and members of an NGO. The owner of the mill and his son, who is the manager at the facility, are likely to face police action.
According to the Tiruttani police, a team led by Tiruttani revenue divisional officer S. Pandian carried out a raid at the mill on Old Madras Road near the Tiruttani railway station and found the victims working under inhuman conditions.
A probe revealed that the families, natives of Nagari in Andhra Pradesh, were being held at the mill, and had paid a deposit amount of Rs. 5,000 to 9,000 to the mill owner, Ramesh Babu, and his son Hari Babu. The victims were allegedly assaulted and were not allowed to return home. The owners paid up to Rs. 100 to each of the adults and the minors for three days of labour.
Efforts are under way to relocate them to their respective villages, sources said.
“A total of 455 persons who were bonded labourers have been rescued in 2014, and in the last quarter alone, 100 persons have been freed only due to the coordinated efforts of the State Revenue officials and our team,” said Alice Suganya of International Justice Mission, the NGO.