New Delhi: In a gross violation of human rights, workers at a Chinese home renovation company who failed to complete their tasks were forced to drink urine and eat bugs. The list of the punishments included more weird tasks like shaving heads, drinking water from toilet bowl, getting whipped by a belt and having salaries withheld by a month.
Citing Chinese state media, Reuter stated that images and videos on Chinese social media revealed that the workers who were underperformers were made to perform the embarrassing tasks in public.
The incident is of a company located in south-western province of Guizhou. The workers who have quit the company informed that the punishments were all publicly meted out in the presence of other staffs.
The practice of awarding punishments in the firm started this year The breach of the company protocols by workers were noted in the little white slips. Each misdemeanor had different punishment. Staffs who did not wear leather shoes to work, and those who failed to turn up in formal attire, were awarded fines worth 50 yuan (which is equal to $7.20).
Three managers of the firm were reportedly jailed from five to 10 days on the charges of humiliation.
China’s labour conditions have often come under criticisms for being ‘harsh’. Workers are paid meagrely and have to make do in cramped houses, reports said.