CHENNAI: The judicial magistrate court in Ambattur has convicted four people, including a couple, in a bonded labour case from 2012. All four were found guilty of keeping seven workers as bonded labourers at a brick kiln for more than four years.
The court sentenced each of them to remain in court custody till the end of the day and imposed a total fine of Rs 40,000. The period of imprisonment already undergone during the trial will be set off against the total sentence.
The ordeal came to light following a rescue operation by revenue officials in 2012. The convicts are Saraswathi (46), her husband Ethiraj (57), Asokan (35) and Murugan (30).
They operated Maruthi Brick Works at Bangarampettai in Tiruvallur and lured workers from Tiruvannamalai and Villupuram districts by offering advance payments of Rs 20,000, according to the prosecution.
Victims testified to a gruelling cycle of debt; despite four years of labour, their debt never reduced as owners claimed low wages were “adjustments” against the advance amount.
Witnesses revealed that the workers were paid only `250/ week per couple and were not allowed to leave the kiln together, with family members held back as “guarantees”. Most poignantly, the court heard how a five-year-old child was denied schooling to work alongside the parents.
Judicial Magistrate P Jaisankar delivered the verdict on April 16, noting that while the case took 14 years due to prosecution delays, the charges were proved beyond doubt.
The brick kiln owners were convicted under Sections 344 and 374 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and provisions of the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976.