Post News Network
Nuapada, Dec 8: A migrant labourer from this district lost his left arm while working in a factory in Gujarat but his employer held him captive for over a year to cover up the incident.
The matter came to fore after Lupeshwar Sabar (20) managed to flee from the factory premises and reached Nuapada by train Sunday.
With tears rolling down his cheeks, Lupeshwar, the second of three sons of Baliram Sabar in Mohradihi village under Amanara panchayat, narrated his tale of woes as villagers gathered outside his home.
Lupeshwar accompanied by his father took up the matter with Rudra Charan Pattnaik, director of a voluntary outfit ‘Parada’. Pattnaik assured them of drawing the attention of the authorities concerned to Lupeshwar’s sufferings.
“My dreams have been shattered as I had expected a lot from my son,” Baliram said. He urged the district administration to initiate action against the factory owner and demanded compensation.
Lupeshwar recalled how his arm was severed while working on a machine at Patidar Cement factory at Hundal in Rajkot. The factory owner admitted him to a hospital where he recovered following treatment. But the owner did not let him go back home and instead held him captive on the factory premises. The factory owner even made Lupeshawar work without payment.
Any request to go back to his village would invite retaliatory action from the factory authorities who would beat him up black and blue.
After enduring the torture for over a year, the youth finally managed to flee from the factory premises and reached the nearby railway station Saturday.
He then boarded a train for home and reached the local railway station Sunday. PNN