Arulkumar S was five when his father forced him into bonded labour as collateral for just Rs 2,000 in Vellore. His father, Saravanan, died after two years without repaying the loan and Arul was stuck as a bonded labourer. The nine-year-old tribal boy was rescued after spending five years as a forced labourer and was admitted to a government residential school at Tirupattur on November 14.
While his mother, Valli, tried to track him down and bring him home, Arul was again forced into bondage by his 'owner', Babu. His work was to herd ducks across four districts and he was forced to lead a semi-nomadic life. "The issue surfaced when a team from Adivasi Council, a tribal network engaged in conducting surveys and gathering data of tribal people, met Arul's mother at her village during a survey and learned that her son was working in Krishnagiri district. He had not come back home since he left her," said K Krishnan, executive director of Foundation for Sustainable Development (FSD).
"We began searching for Arul six months ago and found his location recently after getting in touch with the employer's family. We formed a team with the police, revenue department officials, and FSD members on Monday, and located the boy, who was found herding ducks near Devasamuthiram village in Krishnagiri around 11.00 am. He was rescued and produced at the office of the sub-collector in Tirupattur," he added.
"Babu, Arul's 'owner', reportedly fled to Erode when the rescue was carried out. A complaint was registered with Krishnagiri police by Village Administrative Officer of the town. The police registered a case against Babu under the Bonded Labour System Abolition Act," said Revenue Divisional Officer N Saravanan.
Arul was produced before the Tirupattur Sub-Collector and was enrolled in a government residential school in Tirupattur. A release certificate and a few sets of school uniforms were also given to him. A case under the Child Labour Prohibition Act and IPC were also invoked against the owner, Babu.
( This story orginally appeared on Edexlive.com )