A group of girls from Tiruchi lodged a complaint with the Kancheepuram District Police against their erstwhile employer, here on Saturday.
The girls, aged between 15 to 20 years and hailing from areas / hamlets located in and around Tiruchi, were engaged by the yarn company at Natarajapuram in Madurantakam taluk twelve months ago.
According to the office-bearers of Makkal Mandram, an NGO, they were assured, at the time of employment, a monthly salary of Rs.4,950 apart from a yearly bonus of Rs.15,000.
Further, they were told that they would get an incentive of Rs.3,000 if they worked for 180 days continuously without taking a break and Rs.5,000 if they worked for 240 days without a break. The company provided them food and accommodation near the factory.
However, the girls in their complaint said that they received not more than Rs.1,000 as salary from the first month to till February last, as the company claimed that it had deducted amount towards rent and charges for food from their salaries.
Their movement in the hostel was monitored by surveillance cameras and they were not allowed to talk to their relatives, who called on them at the factory site or at the hostel.
The situation turned worse on February 15, when the father of a girl was attacked by a factory employee, the girls said, adding that on that day they decided to quit their job.
Subsequently, they left the factory premises under the guise of taking the girl's father to a hospital for treatment with the help of ‘108 ambulance service' and lodged a complaint with the Salavakkam police.
However, the police, the girls claimed, assured them that the issue would be resolved as the factory management had agreed to disburse the amount on March 10. “But nothing emerged when we approached the Salavakkam police on March 10. Hence, we decided to approach the Kancheepuram Superintendent of Police.”
