Odisha: 8 traffickers get life in prison for chopping off labourers' hands

Bhubaneswar: Eight human traffickers were sentenced for life and fined heftily on Sunday said a prosecutor, after being found guilty of torturing and chopping off the hands of two labourers.

Prosecutor Dhirendra Nath Patra said the court in Bhubaneswar heard how the traffickers chopped off the hands of Nilambar Dhangdamajhi and Dayalu Nial in Odisha state on December 15, 2013.

The two men were among of a group of 12 labourers who had taken money from labour agent Parvesh Duni in exchange for working for him but quickly realised he had trapped them.

When the men found out they were being taken to Andhra Pradesh instead of Chhattisgarh, they tried to escape. Unfortunately, they were caught and locked up for hours before their hands were chopped off.

News of the torture and confinement triggered widespread outrage and made national headlines.

Dhangdamajhi died on September 21 this year after years of illness.

"Under the sentence Parvesh Duni and other traffickers will serve a life term in prison. They will also have to pay fines," the prosecutor said adding that this would be a lesson for all.

Amidst the publicity, in 2014 the Supreme Court intervened and asked the Odisha government to fast track charges against the traffickers and provide rehabilitation for the two men whose stories are typical of many trapped in debt bondage in India.

Dhangdamajhi was 32 when he took a loan of 14,000 rupees from labour agent Duni and agreed to work at a brick kiln in 2013.

But he was taken to a paddy field, kept under house arrest and made to work for his traffickers who demanded he pay back the advance taken by all 12 labourers if he wanted to go home.

Dayalu, who was 17 years old at the time, earlier had said that they were asked if they would rather have their hands or legs chopped off if they do not agree to the new terms of contract.

Patra said nine men were accused of the abuse and eight of these were arrested and were now in jail.

A ninth man absconded ahead of the hearing that started in October last year and ended in March this year. He has been arrested recently and would now face trial.