Two young girls working in a private spinning mill in Vedasandur were injured when they scaled the 12-foot-high compound wall of the mill in the early hours on Sunday in order to escape from the clutches of mill management.
The injured R. Pavithra (17) of Chennai and S. Ranjitha (18) of Kadambankudi village in Kumbakonam had completed Plus-Two recently. On seeing the girls outside the mill, local people brought them to Dindigul Government Hospital for treatment.
Both the girls took this drastic step to escape from the mill as they could not bear the workload and the harassment.
Narrating her condition, Ranjitha said that a woman contractor, who brought her to this mill, had assured that she could continue her studies while working. “She promised that arrangement will be made to continue my studies,” she said. “But, the mill management that received my school certificates for verification refused to return them after I joined duty. I wanted to do a degree course through distance education with my wages. But I was not allowed to join any course. We were forced to work for 12 hours in a shift. They [supervisors] have been torturing girls to extract work beyond their capacity,” Ranjitha said.
Moreover, stay home facility within the mill was very poor. Food was also not good and not served properly. “Several young girls like me have been languishing in the mill without any help,” Ranjitha complained.
