Maharashtra: Palghar Man, His Kin Forced To Work As Bonded Labourers In Solapur; 3 Booked

Maharashtra: A 19-year-old man and his family members from Maharashtra’s Palghar district have been allegedly forced to work as bonded labourers in Solapur and not paid full wages for it, police said on Sunday.

When they sought the pending wages, the man was kidnapped, held captive and beaten up. A case was registered on Sunday in this connection against three persons from Karmala in Solapur, they said.

The man and his family members were engaged for cutting sugarcane crop at a farm of a person in Solapur between October 2022 and February this year. They were paid Rs 1.69 lakh against the total due payment of Rs 6,87,500, an official from Manor police station said quoting the FIR.

Accused Held The Victims Captive And Assaulted Them

On November 1, the farm owner and two other persons called the man to Mastan Naka in Manor area of Palghar under the pretext of paying the pending wages.

The accused then allegedly took the man with them in a car and held him victim captive at the farm owner’s house from November 1 to 3 and beat him up severely, causing injuries to him, the official said.

They also abused him over his caste. Later, the accused brought the victim back to his village and released him, the official said.

FIR Filed Against Farm Owner, 2 Others

Following a complaint by the victim, the police registered a FIR against the farm owner and the two other accused under Indian Penal Code sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 342 (wrongful confinement), 504 (intentional intent to provoke breach of peace) and 506 (criminal intimidation), and also under provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act.

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