CHENNAI: The Ambattur Judicial Magistrate Court has acquitted a rice mill owner in a bonded labour case dating back to 2013 after the prosecution failed to fully establish debt bondage, but convicted him of lesser offences including wrongful confinement and unlawful compulsory labour. A fine of Rs 16,000 and imprisonment till the rising of the court was imposed on Perumal, the mill owner.
While the prosecution failed to fully establish bonded labour under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, the court relied on victim testimonies and official records to convict the accused for lesser offences under IPC sections 344 (wrongful confinement for more than 10 days) and 374 (unlawful compulsory labour).
The conviction was delivered on January 25. The case stemmed from a raid conducted by revenue officials in 2013 following complaints that workers were being made to work for long hours for meagre wages at a mill in Tiruvallur. According to the prosecution, eight workers were allegedly forced to work from as early as 2am till late evening. Based on the inspection and inquiry, the police registered a case invoking provisions of IPC and the Bonded Labour System Act.
During the trial, many prosecution witnesses turned hostile. However, the court held that this was not sufficient to discard the prosecution case in its entirety.