4 K’pada Dalit minors tortured in TN mill

The poverty-stricken family members of four Dalit minors of Baro and Uchharpada villages under Kendrapada block sought help from the district administration to rescue their children from a Tamil Nadu carton making mill owner who has kept the minors captive for demanding their wages. A local middleman,Kalandi Mallick, had taken the four minors to work in the mill in Salem district of TN promising them a salary of Rs 17,000 per month.

The victims, Somanath Mallick(17),Tusar Mallick(17),Bablu Mallick(16) and Sarat Mallick(16) had set out for Bhubaneswar first and later to Tamil Nadu.

They started working in the mill since September 18, where they were forced to work for 12 hours a day. But they were not paid their wages and when they demanded the money after waiting for three months, the mill owner went berserk and started torturing them.

The mothers of the four victims on Sunday met the District Emergency Officer on behalf of the district Collector and urged  to take step to bring their wards back home. Even, the parents also demanded before the district Collector to take legal action against the middleman. When contacted, district Collector, Samarth Verma, said steps were afoot to rescue the victims.

Courtesy : The Pioneer