M A I N   N E W S

Labourer kept in chains
Rescued by social workers
Sushil Manav

Fatehabad, July 10
In an act of sheer barbarism, a farm labourer was kept as a bonded labourer with his hands and legs chained by a land owner at Lamba village in this district. The poor man was rescued by social workers with the help of the local administration.

The victim, Bachan Singh (38), and his wife, Rano Devi, had been working in the fields of Baldev Singh and his brother Sukhdev Singh, both landowners of the village, for the last 15 years.

Bachan Singh took leave for two days on June 19 to attend the marriage of his nephew at Sirsa. But he could not return in time.

When he returned after six days, the landowner and his son beat him up severly and asked him to bring Rs 30,000 that he owed to the landowners. A frightened Bachan Singh ran away to his brother’s place at Sirsa to arrange for the money. When he could not get money from his brother, he went to his in-laws’ village, Rattatheh.

Baldev Singh, his son Parminder and his nephew Rajinder went to Rattatheh village and forcibly brought Bachan Singh to their village. Bachan Singh was allegedly beaten up severly and one of his hands chained with his legs.

He was made to work in the fields for hours together and was chained with a tractor-trailer during the night so that he could not run away. He was treated like an animal by his employers and not allowed to meet his wife. When Bachan Singh’s brother, Arjun Singh, went to meet him yesterday, the landowners declared that he would be freed only when his family members repaid the money Bachan Singh owed to them.

They also threatened that Bachan Singh would be beaten daily in case they did not get their money back.

Arjun Singh narrated the incident to his relatives. Activists of the Khet Majdoor Union and the Democratic Youth Federation of India came to know about the incident.

They met the SDM, Rattia, Mr S.K. Setia, and sought administration’s help. Mr Setia deployed an Executive Magistrate-cum-Tehsildar, Mr Mahal Singh, to rescue the hapless labourer from the clutches of the barbaric landowners.

When the Magistrate raided the fields along with a police force, he found Bachan Singh working on the fields with his hands and legs chained. The SDM has directed the police to register a case.