2 Children among 6 bonded labourers rescued from Chennai plant

Manglore Today News Network

Chennai, Jun 22, 2019 : Six bonded labourers including two children were rescued from a water treatment plant in Chennai, the police said, NDTV reported.

 

The rescued children are from Odisha. They were forced to work under inhuman conditions after their employees paid their parents in advance for taking them, said activists who helped the police in the raid.

Their parents were paid between Rs. 4,000-6,000 to take them to Chennai, said child rights activists.

The boys were made to work at the water treatment plant, where strong chemicals are usually used to clean water, without any protective gear and for long hours.

Their hands and legs have scratch marks and bruises from the backbreaking work they had been doing.

Their employees are on the run and the authorities have invoked strict laws that seek to protect children and bonded labourers from exploitation.

The raid at the water treatment plant in Chennai comes at a time when the city is grappling with a severe water crisis in peak summer after lakes that give water to the southern city dried up.