KRISHNAGIRI: Ten persons from three Irular tribe families, including four children from Cuddalore and near Uthangarai, who were allegedly employed as bonded labourers at a brick kiln near Pochampalli, were rescued on Wednesday by the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA).
Acting on a tip-off, a team led by Krishnagiri DLSA, M Padmanaban, visited Madathanoor village near Pochampalli.
Revenue department sources told the TNIE, "A family — Ramesh (30) (name changed), his wife and their two children — from Thalapathy Nagar near Uthangarai were staying and working in a brick kiln unit at Madathanoor for about five years. One child was studying Class 2 and another child is 1.5-years-old. Ramesh has not been made aware of his wages over the years, and he used to make 1,000 bricks per day. His father was also a bonded labourer five years ago."
Similarly, two other families have been working in the same brick kiln unit since May this year. The families, which were part of this unit in 2024, had returned to their native Cuddalore in 2025. But the brick kiln owner went to Cuddalore and brought the family back to work this year. The families have been receiving Rs 1,500 per week for their work.
Sources added that, "The brick kiln owner seized documents like ration card, Aadhaar card and birth certificate of children from the Cuddalore family. These documents were retrieved on Wednesday."
DLSA secretary M Padmanaban, assistant commissioner of labour, B Shankar, Pochampalli tahsildar, P Mohan, Pochampalli police and Adhiboomi Charitable Trust, regional coordinator, U Jagadheeswaran were involved in the rescue process.
Krishnagiri RDO N Shahjahan enquired with the family members and issued a release order for the families.
