Bonded labour ‘scar still hurting this teen’

‘Evidence’, an NGO based in Madurai, has demanded that the district administration book his employer under the Scheduled Castes/ Tribes(Prevention of Atrocities) Act and provide Rs 5 lakh compensation to the victim. The youth, identified as Vijayakumar, from Pallapatti near Nilakottai in Dindigul district, had lost his father at a young age and had been raised by his mother, Muthumari. To support his family, he had taken up work as a bonded labourer at a Murukku factory run by Ramar, at Nandura in Maharashtra in 2013. 

At the workplace, he was subjected to various kinds of torture and physical abuse by Ramar and his family. He was not given proper food and towards the end of 2016 he had managed to escape. At present, he is undergoing treatment at Madurai GRH for his injuries. A team from ‘Evidence’ had visited Vijayakumar’s house and the Madurai GRH and interacted with him and his family. 

Speaking to DTNext, Kathir, Executive Director, ‘Evidence’, claimed that Kasimayan, from Usilampatti, had acted as an agent and had sent Vijayakumar to Maharashtra as a bonded labourer.

Kasimayan had promised a Rs 5,000 salary per month to Vijayakumar but the 18-year-old was only given Rs 50,000 in three years. 

It was also learnt that another Dalit boy working at the Murukku company named Suriyaprakash had gone missing and Kasimayan had sent several such Dalit youngsters from villages around Madurai as bonded labourers to various companies in Maharashtra.