Pregnant Woman Had To Carry Bricks Tied To Back Up A Steep Incline

Reshma, 30, was recently rescued from two-and-a-half years of bonded labour in Karimnagar, along with 40 others. She now lives with her maternal family in Vikarabad.

She was among more than 200 survivors who shared their harrowing stories at a conference on bonded labour, in collaboration with the Telangana police, labour department, and legal authorities. The event also marked the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons.

Reshma’s account was one of many that brought the crowd to silence. She recalled how her sons were brought up on a canal construction site where she worked for a meagre `130 per day. “There was no place to rest or breastfeed. I would dig three sticks into the ground and throw a saree over them to create a tiny tent, just big enough for me to sit with my baby,” she told Deccan Chronicle.

When she was eight months pregnant, she had to carry bricks tied to her back up a steep 40-metre incline, with only a rope for support and no safety gear.

She and her husband, Md. Asif — the only Muslims among the 40 labourers — were lured by a contractor, Ashok Reddy, with promises of decent wages. Instead, they were trafficked to a bridge construction site in Ramagundam, Karimnagar. “We signed a 10-month contract with two days off per month. But we had to work an extra month to ‘make up’ for the holidays, even if we never took them,” she said.

For 12 hours each day, they worked without medical help, safety measures, or any form of social security. Today, her eldest daughter is enrolled in a residential gurukul school, while her two younger children attend local government schools — a future she never imagined during her years in bondage, which began while she was still a young girl.

She wasn’t alone. Raju, from Mahabubnagar, described how his pregnant wife was forced to carry concrete while working near the Karnataka border in 2015. “Her kidney failed and had to be removed. We were 30 families living in huts — no proper shelter, and children were dying from snake bites,” he said.

Shivamma, a survivor from Nagarkurnool district, was among a group of 60 trafficked labourers rescued from a vehicle in Karnataka. “We worked for two years in Rajasthan with no food, no facilities, and no way to return. After rescue, we received medical aid, Aadhaar cards, and release certificates,” she shared. Now in her 40s, Shivamma leads the Brahma Sangham in her village, Yerrapenta, and works with local self-help groups to support government initiatives and uplift her community.