Teenage Tribal Girl from MP ‘Trafficked’ to Delhi, Exploited as Bonded Labourer

Phool is an 18-year-old but has the heart of a child. She lives with her mother in a tribal village called Bhalapuri in Dindori, over 450 kilometres away from Bhopal, the capital of Madhya Pradesh.

A teen, nevertheless, Phool was full of aspirations and dreams. Studying in Class 12, she was soon to appear for her board exams.

But weeks ahead of the exams, on 21 January, she went missing.

Eight days later, Phool’s mother Nutan received a phone call. “I am in Delhi. Please get me out of here quickly,” Phool sobbed on the other line. She had allegedly been trafficked to Delhi, abused and forced to work as a domestic help. If that wasn’t enough, her last employer allegedly abused and confined her.

Phool was rescued on 27 February from her last employer’s Delhi residence by the district administration and police after a Madhya Pradesh-based NGO Pradeepan Foundation helped Nutan to come to Delhi and file a complaint. However, a First Information Report (FIR) has not been filed in the matter yet.

Even as we are half-way across the Union government’s 2016 plan to release and rehabilitate all 1.84 crore bonded labourers by 2030, cases such as that of Phool’s, being reported from the national capital are an ungentle reminder of how far the plan is from the finish line.

This is Phool’s story, and of many young girls from her village, who migrated unsuspectingly in search of better prospects, unaware that they were being trafficked and would likely be exploited.

‘Trafficked to Delhi, Exploited by Placement Agency’

On 21 January, when Nutan came home after work—she is employed as a daily-wage worker under MGNREGA—she couldn’t find Phool. Her husband and Phool’s father had died a few years ago. Nutan frantically looked for Phool for days, asking neighbours and relatives about her whereabouts. But in vain. 

Over a week later, when Phool clandestinely called her mother from a borrowed mobile phone, neither could hold back their tears. 

“She told me that a man named Dhaniram brought her to an office in Delhi. The owner of this office, a man called Virendra, raped her many times. Then he sent her to clean a house, but Phool couldn’t work. She just kept on crying,” Nutan alleged to The Quint. 

    Phool had been approached by a local named Dhaniram from Dindori district, who allegedly lured her to work in Delhi on false promises of a good job, decent salary and a nice city life, claimed the District Coordinator, Pradeepan Foundation.

The official added that Dhaniram transported Phool to Virendra’s placement agency in Delhi, where she was solicited for domestic work. Phool also had to put up at the agency until her employers would take her.

A legal expert, who was present during Phool’s rescue, told The Quint on how this counts as trafficking. 

“Section 143 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) defines trafficking based on three parametres—action, means and purpose. If a person is found transporting, harbouring, recruiting or receiving by means of either coercion or deceit for the purpose of expolitation, the person is culpable of trafficking,” the expert said.

In this case, Phool was transported from Dindori to Delhi, allegedly by Dhaniram, received as a labourer allegedly by Virendra and harboured in the placement agency’s office.  

‘Missed Her Class 12 Board Exams, Forced to Work as Domestic Help’

Phool had been in Delhi for days but was hardly able to work. Her employers sent her back to the agency, where she pleaded with Virendra to let her speak to her mother.

“Once she called and was crying uncontrollably. She was too scared to talk. Suddenly Virendra took the phone from her and asked me to tell Phool to work properly. He said there were other girls, younger than Phool, who are working without creating a fuss,” Nutan alleged to The Quint. 

At this point, she implored Virendra to let Phool come back to the village or she would miss her Class-12 board exams. But he refused.

“He demanded Rs 10,000 cash upfront to let Phool go, saying he had spent this amount to bring her to Delhi. He asserted that Phool would have to work until he gets this amount,” Nutan alleged.

    Phool was again sent to work as a domestic help at a house in Rajouri Garden, West Delhi. Here, she alleged, her employer beat her, gave her stale food maybe once in three days, and did not even let her out on the balcony leave alone letting her go out of the house. 

Unable to connect with her daughter, Nutan in the meantime, approached Pradeepan Foundation for help. She then travelled to Delhi and made an official complaint to the district administration in Rajouri Garden, after which, Phool was rescued.

“If a person is forced to render their services with certain freedoms curtailed—such as the freedom of movement, employment or the freedom to earn minimum wages—until the recovery of a certain amount of debt (in this case, Rs 10,000), it constitutes bonded labour,” the legal expert said. 

Rescued from Bonded Labour But No FIR Yet

The Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act outlawed the practice in 1976 and laid out the procedure to identify, release and rehabilitate bonded labourers. 

The Act mandates the district administration to conduct a detailed enquiry with the labourers and then issue a release certificate, which cancels all their debt and obligations and entitles them to rehabilitative measures, including financial aid. 

Iti Agarwal, Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Rajouri Garden issued a release certificate to Phool on 28 February, a day after she was rescued. She also sought the police to lodge an FIR against the employers and the placement agency. The Quint has seen a copy of the order as well as the release certificate.

    “The police are conducting a preliminary enquiry before registering an FIR,” SDM Rajouri Garden Iti Agarwal told The Quint on being asked about the status of the investigation. She mentioned “jurisdictional issues” as the Phool’s employers were in West Delhi whereas the placement agency is in South Delhi. 

In 2013, the the concept of a Zero FIR was enacted for serious crimes such as sexual harassment, kidnapping, murder, etc. which can be filed at any police station irrespective of jurisdiction. Besides, both trafficking and bonded labour are cognisable offences. 

On being asked about charges related to trafficking, Agarwal asserted that the matter was still under investigation but added that Phool told her that she came to Delhi of her own will. 

It is important to note here that Section 143 of BNS clearly states that the consent of the victim is immaterial in determination of the offence of trafficking.

Govt Released, Rehabilitated Only 2% of 1.84 Crore Bonded Labourers Since 2016

At the national level, the Union Ministry of Labour & Employment is charged with monitoring and releasing funds for identification and rehabilitation of bonded labourers. 

In 2016, the Union government revamped an existing scheme and named it as the Central Sector Scheme for Rehabilitation of Bonded Labourer, 2016. Under this, it increased the financial assistance from Rs. 20,000 to Rs 1 lakh for men, Rs 2 lakh for child labour and women and Rs 3 lakh for trans-genders, or women or children rescued from ostensible sexual exploitation.

The same year, the labour ministry prepared a 15-year vision document with the aim to release and rehabilitate all 1.84 crore bonded labourers, shows a parliament response given by then MoS (Labour) Bandaru Dattatreya. 

However little progress has been made on this front. 

The same response showed that till 31 March 2016, a total of 2,82,429 bonded labourers had been released. Meanwhile, the annual report of the Union Labour Ministry 2023-24 shows that 3,15,755 bonded labourers have been released as of 31 December 2023. 

This means, a total of 33,326 bonded labourers have been released since 2016— an average of 4,760 workers per year. 

    By these estimates, it can be projected that the ministry would be able to release 3,49,075 workers by 2030—achieving only 1.72 percent of the target and leaving behind over 98.1 percent of the workers behind. 

Funds allocated to the rehabilitation scheme also remain under-utilised, according to a parliament response by then MoS (Labour) Rameshwar Teli on 6 December 2021.

This case is an ungentle reminder of how the Govt lags in its plan to free 1.84 crore bonded labourers by 2030.

Screenshot from Rameshwar Teli’s Parliament Response on 6 December 2021.

This shows that the government needs to boost its efforts significantly in this regard lest it falls drastically short of its goal. 

For now, Phool is safe in a shelter home, but she is still miles away from her own home. At the same time, Nutan is desperately waiting Dindori for her daughter to return to Dindori. “I am anxious. I can’t eat or sleep. Dhaniram came to our house and threatened me,” she alleged. She added that she wants to file an official police complaint against Dhaniram but is waiting for Phool to return. 

Courtesy: The Quint

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