Sambalpur: Two pairs minor twins, who had gone to Bangalore to work as bonded labourers, managed to escape the clutches of a middleman and reached Khetrajpur railway station Saturday morning as they failed to bear the torture inflicted on them.
However, according to sources, around 30 more including 25 girls are still captivated in Bangalore.
The rescued boys were identified as Balaram Jena and Kalia Jena, sons of Shatrughna Jena of Mahulia village in Jajpur district. Meanwhile, Jena urged district labour officer (DLO) Krushnamohan Rout to take immediate measures to rescue others. The labourers captivated at Bangalore include Shatrughna’s sister Mani (18) and niece Deepali (16).
According to sources, Shatrughna, a share-cropper, has two sons and three daughters. Due to financial stress, he had sent his sons to Bangalore with middleman Deepak to earn money. Deepak, however, captivated them inside a room for 20 days. They were underfed. After asking the middleman repeatedly for work, they were engaged as assistants in a sewing unit. After a month of work, when they asked for their salaries, they were beaten up and told they would face dire consequences if they opened their mouth. They were also kept hungry as a punishment for asking for salaries.
The duo decided to leave the place and they carried out their plan May 2 when the middleman was absent. They were hiding at a railway station when they saw the middleman searching them and showing their photographs to people. They ran from the station to Yasanpur station. They were crying helplessly at the station, when an Oriya youth Debiprasad Mohapatra came to their rescue and help them board a train.
The duo reached Khetrajpur station Saturday morning. The Government Railway Police handed them over to Child Line officials.
When contacted, Rout said district labour officer of Jajpur was apprised of the matter as the twins hail from the district. Measures would be taken to rescue other captivated children at Bangalore, he added. PNN
