BENGALURU: The Ramanagra district Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU) and the local police, assisted by International Justice Mission (IJM) rescued 10 victims of bonded labour and trafficking from two poultry farms in Channapatna last week.
The children, who hail from Odisha, were trafficked to Bengaluru three months ago and were employed at poultry farms owned by a Odisha-based businessman. However, a criminal case is yet to be registered against the owner and the trafficker.
Some of the rescued children, who were living along with their parents and relatives working the farms, were not even provided a room to stay in and they were living in the shed itself along with the chickens.
The children and their relatives were forced to work at farm, as the farm owner did not let them return to their hometown. They were not even allowed to go together to the nearby market. Only a woman was allowed to go out to buy provisions once a week.
After the operation the officials said, “The prescribed minimum wage for a poultry farm worker in Karnataka is Rs 303.98 per day, but in this case the bonded labourers were paid only around Rs 50 per day." The children and their families have been sent back to their hometown.
