Madurai: The torture a 15-year-old Dalit boy underwent at a sweet shop in Pandharpur district near Mumbai, has left a scar not just on his skin but in his mind as well.
Every time Marimuthu looks at the wounds on his legs- the yellowing bruises, blood blisters and burn scar - he cries in pain remembering the suffering he underwent at this hands of the sweet shop owner Ranjith Thevar. “He threw boiling oil on my body when I asked for rest” said Marimuthu laying in bed at a private hospital in Madurai.
Unable to bear the burn injuries, Marimuthu cried for help in the shop, but the owner, Ranjith Thevar, behaved as if nothing had happened there and walked out from the room. “I applied Kadalai maavu on the wounds and slept in the same place,” Marimuthu recalled those dreadful moments, speaking to ‘Deccan Chronicle’ here.
Next morning, the owner arranged a local doctor to administrate injection for him. “It was not out of sympathy, he asked me to come for work in the next one hour. When I expressed my inability, he did not allow me to rest. Instead he asked me to work in the packing section,” the Dalit lad said.
Marimuthu had to work for more than 20 hours a day and he had to cook for himself. “I used to eat food cooked in the afternoon and keep it for the entire day,” he said.
Within next two days Marimuthu managed to escape from the shop in the night hours and reached Madurai in the third week of February. When he went in search of his mother Perumal at Manjalmedu here, she was not found in the house.
“Ranjith refused to send Marimuthu to attend his mother’s funeral on December 25, despite our pleas. He asked us to pay '20,000 for his release,” said Kuravammal, his aunt, who is seen assisting Marimuthu in the hospital.
The deceased Perumal, the mother of three children, had borrowed Rs 20,000 from woman usurer Dhanalakshmi, the mother of Ranjith. As she could not pay back the amount in the due time, Dhanalakshmi allegedly forced Perumal to send her elder son Marimuthu to work in her son’s shop.
After Marimuthu reached home, Kuravammal admitted him at the Government Rajaji hospital for treatment on February 19. With the intervention of Madurai-based NGO ‘Evidence’, the Karimedu police registered a case against Ranjith under section 374 (whoever unlawfully compels a person to labour against the will of that person), 307 (Attempt to murder) and under the Juvenile Justice act.
The inspector Kannan said that they would transfer the case to Mumbai police for thorough investigation in the next two days.Meanwhile, Government Rajaji hospital dean, Dr Vairamuthu Raj dismissed the allegation that the doctors forced Marimuthu to vacate the hospital yesterday.
“The boy was discharged from the hospital only after he was provided with adequate care and treatment. His uncle Murugan discharged the boy on his own will after signing the official document,” he added.
‘Lack of interstate links perpetuate bonded labour’
While it is apparent that hundreds of children particularly from marginal communities from Madurai and its neighbouring districts are forced into bonded labour in sweet shops in North Indian states, there is no interstate mechanism to curb such illegal practices, charge right activists.
“The government officials are very much aware that most of these shops are owned by caste Hindus who belong to Madurai district, particularly from Usilampatti taluk, but so far they have not taken any positive steps to put an end to this inhuman practice,” claims A Kathir, executive director of Madurai-based NGO ‘Evidence’, which works on human right issues.
“These shop owners target the marginal communities who would be struggling to meet their daily needs. Using the poverty situation, they lured the family members promising lump sum money for sending their children to work,” he said.
They also use brokers to identify the school dropouts before approaching their families. “ Most of the time, the relatives of the shop owners act as intermediaries to lure the family,” said A Mahaboo Batcha, national Core Group member on Bonded Labour, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).
“The owners pay an initial advance of around Rs 20,000 to the children’s family, but once their children are sent to such shops in Mumbai, Gujarat, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, they would not even allow them to speak to the parents,” he pointed out.
The children would be forced to work in unhealthy atmosphere for more than 20 hours beside forced to physical and mental torture. “If they don’t like the children, they would also sell them to other shop owners for work,” said Batcha.
Ironically even if the NGOs managed to rescue the children with the help of local activists, they are not able to arrange compensation for the victims under Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976. “The officials asks for the signature of revenue officials from those states to release the compensation amount of Rs 20,000,” claimed Kathir, adding that it was not viable practically.
This apart, the shop owners also escape from the clutches of law because there was no interstate mechanism to secure them. “At the most the police would register a case and forward it for further investigation to their counterparts in the respective state. In the meantime, the shop owners manage to get the bail”, said Kathir.
The district administration should also sensitize the shop owners who belong to Usilampatti, when they visit their villages during festivals, added Batcha.
