50 bonded labourers rescued from 3 brick kiln near Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu

THANJAVUR: A total of 50 people including 24 women and 7 children who were working as bonded labours in three brick kilns for over a decade in Thanjavur have been rescued by revenue officials here on Thursday. The incident came to light when revenue divisional officer of Thanjavur got a tip on such a brick kiln functioning in Devangudi village of Papanasam taluk .

According to sources, Kumbakonam Divisional Revenue Officer (DRO) M Veerasamy received information from an NGO called SHED India about their captivity. Following that, RDO Veerasamy visited the work site along with revenue officials and conducted enquiries.

As per the information, officials first visited the kiln owned by K Raju alias Poongundran of Devangudi. During the on-site enquiry, labourers from a nearby brick kiln– owned by P Sekar of Ariyalur and P Mani of Kovilur in Ariyalur voluntarily came out and requested the officials that they too wanted to be extracted from the captivity of brick kilns as they have been subject to bonded labour for a period of one to 15 years.

All the rescued labourers are the native of Keezha Pazhur in Ariyalur district. One of the victims, a 55-year-old woman had told to the officials that they have been working at the kiln for nearly 15 years for borrowing Rs 30,000 from one of the owners of brick kilns. However, till now their debt has not been repaid, RDO Veerasamy told TOI.

“A man who worked at the kiln had committed suicide a few years ago due to torture at the kiln. Even after his death, the owner of that particular kiln did not spare the family. The victim’s adult son was made a bonded labourer to repay his father’s debt”, RDO said.

The rescued labourers were subject to torture for going out without the permission of the owners. The labourers reported physical abuse and lack of freedom of movement, DRO Veerasamy further said.

According to revenue inspector Manjula, members of 20 families were subject to bonded labour. Of them 8 families were with Raju, 11 families with Sekar and the rest was with Mani’s brick kiln, she said.

All the rescued people were handed over release certificates with government's compensation immediately. Based on a complaint lodged by VAO, Kapisthalam police arrested all the three owners, officials stated.