BENGALURU: Thirteen victims of bonded labour and trafficking were rescued from a cow shelter in Mahadevapura by police and personnel of another organisation here on Thursday.
The rescue was carried out by the Bangalore Urban District Administration and the local police, assisted by International Justice Mission (IJM). Eight victims were working as bonded labourers, of which two are minors aged 13 and 17.
Five children of the workers aged between one and 12 were not working but confined to the shelter. Victims belonged to three families and were working in the shelter for between seven months to one year.
On Friday, an FIR was registered at the Mahadevapura police station against Kishan Lal Kothari, the supervisor of the shelter, who is still at large. All the victims belonged to the indigenous Irular community and are natives of Rayakottai in Krishnagiri District in Tamil Nadu. A labourer said that Kishan had threatened them that if they tried to escape without paying back the advance they will be caught and their kidneys will be removed and sold.
The men were forced to work from 4:30 am to 6:30 pm while women began work at 6:30 am, with only short breaks for meals in between. The labourers were paid between `6,100 to `7,100 and had to work on all the days of the month.
Most labourers were too sick or tired to do so, and hence their wages were slashed. After the payments, Kothari would take away most of the wages towards the advance and interest he charged over the advance. Each labourer was left with `1,000 to `1,500 and they had to manage all their expenses, including food, with this much and were hence forced to borrow again at an interest of 5 per cent per month.
The labourers were not allowed to leave the premises together. Only one member of a family could go to buy provisions.
A family of labourers who had left the shelter six months ago had returned to their village and tried to contact NGOs to inform them about the shelter. They met people who had earlier been rescued, and were directed to the NGO International Justice Mission, who in turn informed the police. All the labourers have been repatriated to Rayakottai by the Karnataka government and are eligible for compensation and schemes due to rescued bonded labourers under the Central Sector Scheme (CSS).