Nuapada: Nearly 15 bonded labourers of Chanamunda village under Lakhana police limits in Nuapada district have reportedly been held captive and subjected to torture in a kiln in Andhra Pradesh.
Some of their co-workers who managed to flee from AP narrated their ordeal to district officials Monday. They were Jugan Majhi (38), his daughter Khirmati Majhi (16) and another villager Konda Majhi. The families of the detained labourers lodged written complaints with the collector, superintendent of police and district labour department and urged the administration to come to their rescue.
According to the case details, the labourers had gone to AP about four months back through a broker of Bolangir district. They were engaged in a brick kiln owned by a person known as Malleswari in Vijayawada. The kiln owner started torturing them after a few days. They were made to live in unhygienic conditions and eat sub-standard meals. They were beaten up when asked for medicines. Laxman Majhi(35), a labourer of the village, said his hand was fractured in one such beating.
Seeing his condition, Jugal, his daughter and Konda managed to escape from the kiln. Though, they fled the area Saturday night, they had to walk about 12 km before boarding a train. They finally managed to reach Nuapada railway station Tuesday. According to them, the owner of the kiln has kept 15 others in captivity.
Besides apprising the district administration about their plight, Jugal, Laxman’s wife Teva, Konda and others approached a local NGO to come to the rescue of the workers. The NGO demanded legal action against the broker and safe transportation of the labourers from AP to Nuapada. PNN
