Mysuru Bonded Labour Case 18 Workers Rescued Brick Kiln Arrests

Eighteen bonded labourers who had been employed in a Mysuru brick kiln for four to 20 years were rescued on Monday, days after a couple among them escaped leaving behind their two sons.

Nagaraj Ankasadoddi, member-secretary of the District Legal Services Authority, said the DLSA, police, and the departments of women and child development and labour raided the kiln at Bevinahalli in T Narasipura taluk after the couple informed members of NGOs Vikasana and Madilu.

Ankasadoddi said all the rescued people are Dalits and have roots in Tamil Nadu.

The Bannur police arrested the brick kiln’s owners, identified as Mahadeva, Girish, and Yathiraj—all residents of T Narasipura. A court has remanded them to judicial custody.

The family of four—the couple and their sons aged nine and 13—had accepted an advance of Rs 75,000 for the work from their employers eight years ago and had since been working at the kiln.

Children aged 9 and 13 engaged in forced labour

Vibha Varghese, an advocate and the CEO of Vikasana, said the two children were also engaged in forced labour. “While the younger child attended school, he was required to work before and after school hours, as well as on weekends. The family worked from 5 am to 6 pm every day and together earned only Rs 500–Rs 1,000 per week, similar to other families at the kiln. The employer supplied rice at Rs 30 per kg, and this cost was deducted from their weekly wages. For other provisions, only one male member of a family was occasionally permitted to leave the premises, while the rest were required to stay back,” she said.

Varghese said, “The families were not allowed to leave the worksite together or visit their homes and relatives, even for any family events. Despite years of labour under these conditions, the employer refused to release the workers, claiming repayment of the initial advance with exorbitant interest.”

Varghese said workers who requested to leave or raised concerns were frequently subjected to severe physical abuse, including beatings with sticks. Some of them sustained injuries that impaired their ability to walk.

“Following the rescue, the police arranged medical examination and treatment for them,” she added.

The kiln’s owners have been booked under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, and Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 143 (trafficking of persons), 127 (wrongful confinement), 74 (assault to outrage modesty), and 115 (voluntarily causing hurt).