Four rescued from bonded labour in Hoskote, owner and sons charged

BENGALURU: Suffering through bonded labour for over 10 years, three minors and an adult were rescued from a vegetable farm in Hoskote on Saturday, July 16. The four victims, hailing from Krishnagiri in Tamil Nadu and Ramanagara in Karnataka were trafficked by the farm owner and his five sons who had paid the parents of the four an advance at the time of trafficking, ranging from Rs 20,000 to Rs 60,000.
The oldest, 25 years of age, was bought by the farmer ten years ago and the rest of them, aged 16, 15 and 14 were trafficked, seven, four and five years ago, respectively.Once brought to the farm, the four youngsters were forced to work as per the weightage of advance paid to the parents.
On Saturday, the victims were rescued by the Bangalore Rural District Administration and local police, along with the International Justice Mission (IJM). A case has been registered against the farm owner and his sons at the Hoskote Police Station under IPC 370 (Trafficking of Persons), bonded labour act and child labour act.
“It is a serious crime that the youngsters were used as bonded labourers at this vegetable farm in Hoskote,” said, GB Chandrashekara, Tahsildhar of Hoskote who was in charge of the rescue. “The government of Karnataka takes these cases very seriously and we will conduct raids on any farm or factory that we suspect uses bonded labour. In this case, the owner of the farm faces serious human trafficking charges which carries a minimum sentence of 10 years. The labourers have been given release certificates by the Assistant Commissioner of Bangalore Rural District, MK Jagadesh and they will be rehabilitated.”
“Giving advances to labourers or their families and restricting the freedom of the labourer based on the advance is also illegal according to the Bonded Labour (Abolition) Act which attracts a maximum sentence of three years,” said Sashmeeta Mulmi, Director of Government Engagement, IJM.
“We suffered at the farm and we were desperate to leave,” recalled the 18 year old rescued victim. “We were not given any time to rest even if we were sick and we were beaten if we spoke to each other or for small mistakes. Four months ago after I was beaten badly I escaped from the farm and went home but the owner’s son came to my village and brought me back. For a week it was okay but then they started beating me again.”
Working seven days a week from 6 am to 8 pm, tending to carrots, beetroots, cauliflower and roses, the last few years had been a harrowing experience for the four of them. Inhaling pesticides everyday caused respiratory problems as well. Living in the cow shed and being fed stale leftovers through the day, these boys would often also have to lift heavy shipments that came to the farm. All of this, for Rs 10 a week apart from the advance given to their parents.
Even if we consider the advance the labourers received as a yearly wage, they were grossly underpaid,” said an official at IJM. “The minimum wage for an agricultural worker in the state of Karnataka is Rs 288.66 per day for eight hours of work. The labourers in this case were forced to work much more than the prescribed hours and severely underpaid. More importantly, their freedom of movement was restricted and they were exploited making the owner culpable of human trafficking and bonded labour crimes among others.”