KOCHI: The gruesome murder of 61-year-old Molly who was staying with her 30-year-old mentally challenged son in Puthenvelikkara on Monday once again puts the spotlight on crimes increasingly committed by migrant workers. It seems various attempts by the police to keep tabs on the migrant workforce in their respective jurisdictions have not yielded the desired results so far.
The Parampuzha multiple murder in Kottayam district in 2016, the brutal rape and murder of Jisha, a 32-year-old Dalit law student in Perumbavoor, committed by migrant workers shook the state to its core.
ASP Sujith Das, the investigation officer in the Puthenvelikkara case, said crimes involving migrant workers are on the rise. However, he pointed out the accused, Parimal Sahu aka Munna, 24, was not an 'illegal migrant'. "He possessed all the valid documents which were examined by the police. He is not an illegal migrant," said the ASP. Sahu came to Kerala when he was 13, so he was fluent in Malayalam. He came to Puthenvelikkara seven months ago and had been employed as an assistant to a driver for a wholesale distribution agency.
After the murder, investigators questioned four migrant labourers, including Sahu, who were staying in the outhouse of the building. According to officers, the migrant labourers were staying in the building rented out by Molly nearby their residence in front of the Puthenvelikkara grama panchayat office.
The police said, in general only a few workers possess all the relevant documents while the identity of a majority is unknown, raising serious concerns about the presence of illegal immigrants in the state. The ASP added the presence of illegal migrants from Bangladesh is a cause for concern.
Recently, the Ernakulam Rural police arrested seven Bangladeshi nationals employed at a plywood factory at Kuruppampady on charges of illegal immigration. The group had been staying at a labour camp at Ashamannur for the past three months. They possessed no passports or travel documents. All of them were booked under the Passport Act and the Foreigners Act.
"There are thousands of Bangladesh nationals among the migrant workforce in Perumbavoor area which is thickly populated with migrant workers from West Bengal, Assam and other Northeastern states. They stay with the Bengali-speaking population and there is no effective mechanism in place to identify them," said an officer.
As part of preparing a comprehensive database of migrant labourers in the state, the Labour and Skills Department has begun enrolling them under a health insurance scheme, Aawaz. The initiative would provide migrant workers accident and death insurance benefits, for which their personal details and biometric data would be recorded. Those enrolled in the scheme will get Rs 15,000 as health insurance benefits every year and Rs 2 lakh will be provided under death insurance.
The project, launched in the light of the brutal murder of Jisha, involved the collection of thumb impressions, names and addresses of labourers, details of employers, contact numbers and photos. However, officers pointed out the project cannot really achieve its objective as the workers keep floating between various locations in search of better wages.
Meanwhile, Centre for Migration and Inclusive Development executive director Binoy Peter said all migrant workers could not be portrayed as having a criminal background on the basis of a few criminal cases.