PEDDAPALLI: As many as 13 brick kiln labourers and two children were rescued from a work site in Raghavapur, Peddapalli mandal, on Thursday evening, from alleged harassment while on work. The district administration in coordination with the revenue and labour department later sent them back to their native Balangir district of Odisha here on Friday.
According to Phillips Isidore, Convener of Coalition Against Human Trafficking, Bonded Labour and Child Labour (CAHBC) from Odisha, the labourers were reportedly harassed by brick kiln owners, subjected to routine beatings, denied wages, and restricted from moving and communicating by confiscating their phones to prevent them from comtacting their families. All survivors, originally from Balangir district, shared distressing accounts of abuse and deception, having been lured into bonded labour under false pretenses.
Acting on a tip-off from Odisha authorities, District Collector Koya Sreeharsha ordered a probe and dispatched officials from the revenue and labour departments. The labourers, who had arrived on October 3 and started work three ago, expressed their unwillingness to continue work.
Revenue authorities ensured they received their wages from the brick kiln owner. Peddapalli Thahsildar Raj Kumar stated that police and revenue staff accompanied the labourers to their native district. The team provided shelter and food for the survivors.
According to an FIR lodged by the families of some labourers in Odisha, the group was promised fair working conditions and a Rs 5,000 advance by a local trafficker in August 2024. They were misled into believing that they would work at a kiln in Andhra Pradesh, but were instead taken to VSR Bricks Construction in Raghavpur village, Peddapalli. The facility, which employs around 200 labourers, turned into a site of horror for these workers.
When some survivors tried to contact their relatives, they faced retaliation. Alarmed by the lack of communication, the families filed a police complaint with the Balangir Police Station in Odisha, requesting urgent intervention. They also approached the trafficker, offering to return the advance payment in exchange for their loved ones’ release, but he refused.
