After a WhatsApp post, circulated among a group in Madurai was shared with an activist, a Dalit woman allegedly working in a brick-kiln as bonded labourer was safely rescued by a team from Evidence, an NGO working for the rights of the SCs with support from the revenue and police officials in Madurai on Friday.
Speaking to The Hindu on Saturday, Evidence executive director A. Kathir said Perumalakka (42) and her husband Palpandi (47) were working in a brick-kiln unit at Thevaseri village near Alanganallur in Madurai since April 2021. They had reportedly received ₹1.50 lakh from the employer, identified as Chellapandi.
After working for about eight months in the brick-kiln unit for long hours everyday, the couple had informed the employer that they were exhausted and would like to go back to their home at Thathampatti village in Madurai. Seeking some time to repay the money she owed to Chellapandi, she came back from the brick-kiln unit.
According to a fact finding team’s report, Perumalakka had joined another private brick-kiln unit near her dwelling and, as promised, went to Chellapandi’s place and gave him ₹50,000 as a part payment. When Chellapandi refused to take the money and insisted her to return to work, she explained her inability. “ My husband had a fall and broke his hand. He was also in a state of depression,” she had told.
However, Chellapandi’s relatives, including his wife Kalpana, who were in no mood to listen, had gone to Perumalakka’s dwelling and forcibly brought her to Thevaseri village to work in their brick-kiln, her son Pandi Murugan had informed the Vadipatti police in a complaint lodged on March 14.
Though the police had given a CSR certificate to the complainant, the issue drew the attention of the Superintendent of Police Baskaran after the Evidence team members narrated the woes of Perumalakka and Palpandi.
Demanding the police to arrest all the five accused immediately, Mr. Kathir urged the Tamil Nadu government to provide a relief of ₹1.25 lakh to the couple and their son, and also a piece of land measuring 2400 square feet in their village, where they could perform some farm activity.
The Vadipatti police have registered a case under IPC Sections 147 and 365, under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976 and SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Amendment Act 2015.
