Last Updated:
A duck rearer held a Yanadi tribal woman and her three kids as bonded labour over a Rs 25,000 loan, forcing her to leave one son behind as collateral.
Representative image of Andhra Police
In a tragic case from Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, a woman who was forced to leave her son as collateral over a Rs 25,000 loan found her son dead and buried secretly in neighbouring Tamil Nadu. The shocking incident led to the arrest of a duck rearer and his family for holding the woman and her three children from the Yanadi tribal community as bonded labourers.
The woman had to leave her son behind as “collateral,” and when she later managed to gather the money with high interest, the duck rearer falsely claimed the boy had run away. It was only after filing a case and police interrogation that the duck rearer confessed the boy had died and was buried secretly in Tamil Nadu’s Kanchipuram. The police on Tuesday exhumed the boy’s body while the woman, Anakamma, wept uncontrollably on the ground.
Anakamma, her late husband Chenchaiah, and their three sons had worked for the duck rearer for a year. After Chenchaiah’s death, the employer continued to exploit Anakamma and her children, claiming they couldn’t leave due to a Rs 25,000 loan her husband had taken from him. They were forced to work long hours despite her pleas for higher wages, according to a report by NDTV.
When she insisted on leaving, the employer demanded Rs 45,000, including Rs 20,000 as interest, for the loan repayment. Left with no choice, she agreed to leave one of her children behind. Anakamma occasionally spoke to her son over the phone, and he would repeatedly ask her to come get him, telling her he was overworked. The last time she spoke to him was on April.
Barrage Of Lies
By the end of April, Anakamma managed to arrange the money and contacted her former employer. He repeatedly lied to the woman, initially claiming that the boy had been sent elsewhere, later saying he was hospitalised, and finally, that he had run away. Fearing for her son’s safety, Anakamma sought help from tribal community leaders and approached the local police.
A police team was formed, and upon interrogation, the duck rearer admitted the boy had died and was secretly buried in Kanchipuram. The duck rearer, his wife, and their son were arrested, and a case was registered under various sections of the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, Child Labour Act, Juvenile Justice Act, SC/ST Atrocities Act, and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The body was exhumed on Tuesday, and a post-mortem has been conducted.
Tirupati Collector Venkateswar told NDTV that they are taking the case seriously and noted that CCTV footage showed the boy was taken to a hospital. “The duck rearer’s family says the boy died of jaundice. But he was buried secretly and his family was not informed,” he said.
Activists highlighted that Yanadi tribals are particularly vulnerable to bonded labour, with 50 members rescued recently. They explained that loan advances are often used to trap victims in such situations as Anakamma.
- Location :
Tirupati, India, India
- First Published:
Source link
[ad_3]
