Chennai: The Kelambakkam police on Monday arrested a woodcutting unit owner under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act for sexually assaulting a minor girl whose family worked as bonded labourers for the accused.
The accused, identified as 48-year-old Jayapaul, will lure the child to his guest house on the pretext of housework, to confine and sexually assault her. The young girl and her parents had been working with Jayapaul’s woodcutting unit for a meagre salary of Rs 1,000 a week.
The matter came to light when a total of 28 bonded labourers were rescued from a woodcutting unit near Kovalam in Chengalpet on Thursday after a complaint was received by the Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) of Chengalpattu MuthuVadivelu from two families who fled.
They shared their ordeal at the worksite and the abuse inflicted by owner Jayapal. Based on this, the Chengalpet RDO visited the worksite and conducted the initial inquiry. Confirming the presence of bonded labourers, two other families were also rescued.
The RDO along with members of the International Justice Mission (IJM), an NGO working with human rights, was able to rescue a total of 28 bonded labourers, of which 11 were children under the age of 14 on Thursday.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, Muthu Vadivelu said that the state of the bonded labourers under the accused was unspeakable. “For just `1,000 a week, they were made to work in pathetic conditions. The labourers had been bonded for 3 years to repay a cash advance of `3,000. The accused used to even attack and harass the workers if they hadn’t cut enough wood for the week,” he said.
Claiming that Jayapal was likely a repeat offender, Muthu Vadivelu said that investigations will reveal further details soon.
