Eleven labourers engaged in well-digging work shared their ordeal after they were rescued by police in Maharashtra's Osmanabad district, an official said on Tuesday. After being set free on Saturday, the labourers shared the inhuman ways they were dealt with as they were made to work 12 hours daily, not paid any money for the work, provided food just once a day and forced to answer nature's call in the well itself where they worked, he said.
The labourers were chained by the contractors in order to prevent them from escaping, the PTI report stated.
Four persons have been arrested so far in connection with the matter including two contractors, the officials said.
The labourers were deployed by contractors two-three months back for well digging work in Khamaswadi and Wakharwadi villages under Dhoki police station limits in Osmanabad where they were wrongfully confined and tortured, assistant police inspector Jagdish Raut told the news agency.
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One of the labourers managed to escape and reach his native place in Hingoli district where he informed local police about the torture, he said.
The Hingoli police then contacted its counterpart in Osmanabad’s Dhoki on Saturday and teams were formed to conduct checks at the specified site.
"When a police team reached Wakharwadi village, it found five labourers working in a well. When they were questioned, they were informed that they were made to work for 12 hours every day and tied with chains during night so that they don't escape," Raut said.
The five labourers were subsequently rescued, he said.
They were informed that six more labourers were working in the nearby Khamaswadi village facing a similar situation who were also later rescued.
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"When we questioned the labourers, they said they were given food just once a day and forced to answer nature's call in the well itself. Later, the human waste was sent up on the surface in a basket. The labourers were sent into the well at around 7 am every day and taken out after 12 hours of work," Raut said.
All the 11 rescued labourers were provided medical treatment and a procedure was underway to send them home.
The four accused, including contractors Santosh Jadhav and Krushna Shinde, were booked under Indian Penal Code Sections 370 (trafficking of persons), 367 (kidnapping or abducting in order to subject person to grievous hurt, slavery, etc), 346 (wrongful confinement in secret) and 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means), he added.