{"id":274231,"date":"2025-06-05T05:10:39","date_gmt":"2025-06-05T05:10:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/uncategorized\/bonded-labourers-sold-and-assaulted\/"},"modified":"2025-06-05T05:10:39","modified_gmt":"2025-06-05T05:10:39","slug":"bonded-labourers-sold-and-assaulted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=274231","title":{"rendered":"Bonded Labourers Sold and Assaulted"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Disturbing visuals have emerged from Ludhiana, Punjab, where bonded labourers<\/a> were brutally assaulted at a brick kiln on 16 May 2025. Among the victims was a pregnant woman who was allegedly beaten on her stomach. A total of fifteen bonded labourers, including women and children from Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh, were subjected to physical violence that has shocked human rights activists and exposed the stark reality of Punjab\u2019s brick kiln<\/a> industry.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Lured with Advance, Then Trapped in a Vicious Cycle<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Amit Kumar, one of the victims, described how he initially agreed to work after receiving a \u20b930,000 advance through a middleman named Sundar.\u00a0\u201cWe are from Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh. Five of our family members were given a total of about 30000 rupees as advance and taken to a brick kiln in Rupnagar in Punjab. We worked at this kiln from October 2024 to March 2025,\u201d Amit told\u00a0The Probe<\/em>. \u201cBut the soil there was bad, and I said we couldn\u2019t work like this as we were unable to make bricks. The owner said, \u2018Repay the debt and leave.\u2019 I kept working till March but couldn\u2019t make ends meet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amit recounted how he was then directed to another brick kiln in Ludhiana after being promised new work. \u201cThe new kiln owner came in a car, and bought us from the Rupnagar brick kiln owner. We didn\u2019t receive any money \u2014 they just transferred us like cattle.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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\u2018We Were Sold Like Cattle\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"Amit
An emotional Amit Kumar narrates his ordeal with The Probe | Photo courtesy: The Probe team<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The more chilling part of Amit\u2019s story lies in what happened next.<\/p>\n

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\u201cAll fifteen of us were sold to a brick kiln owner Jasmeet Randhawa in Ludhiana,\u201d he alleged. \u201cWe didn\u2019t receive any payment. Our belongings were loaded into a vehicle, and we were taken to this new place without explanation. That\u2019s when we realised \u2014 we were not employees anymore. We were property.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Amit explained that once they reached the brick kiln, the workers were forced into unpaid labour<\/a>. \u201cWe were made to work without wages. That\u2019s how we knew we had been sold.\u201d<\/p>\n

“The Owner Bought You. You Have Been Sold to Him”<\/h2>\n

At first, the new kiln owner maintained a fa\u00e7ade of normalcy. But once the labourers began demanding their dues, the situation escalated.<\/p>\n

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\u201cHe made us do all kinds of work, not just brick-making,\u201d said Amit. \u201cThere was no money, not even food. We were borrowing from relatives just to survive.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The labourers tried to maintain a diary to document the work they did \u2014 their only proof \u2014 but that was torn apart by the owner. \u201cHe said he would give us another diary, but never did. He kept making us work.\u201d<\/p>\n

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When the workers persisted, the owner reportedly deflected responsibility. \u201cHe told us to speak to Rakesh, who had connected us. But Rakesh said, \u2018The owner bought you. You have been sold to him. Now it\u2019s between you and him.\u2019\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Brutal Assaults: ‘Even Children and a Pregnant Woman Were Not Spared’<\/strong><\/h2>\n

When they continued to press for their wages, things turned violent.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThey brought goons to the kiln and started beating us one by one,\u201d Amit revealed. \u201cEven my daughters were dragged out of our makeshift homes and beaten. A pregnant woman in our group was assaulted on her stomach.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"Pregnant
The pregnant woman who was assaulted with a stick on her stomach during the violence | Photo courtesy: Special arrangement<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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One of the labourers suffered head injuries, and when the workers tried to call an ambulance, it got worse. \u201cWe made the injured pregnant woman sit inside the ambulance, but they pulled out her husband from it and thrashed him too,\u201d said Amit.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The two families \u2014 comprising 15 members in total \u2014 allege that the entire group was subjected to bonded labour and physical assault.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThree people suffered serious injuries,\u201d Amit said. \u201cOne man needed ten stitches to his head. Another\u2019s hand was broken. A third has been left struggling to breathe after sustaining chest injuries. And yet, the police have taken no action. The administration hasn\u2019t helped us at all.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Daughter Molested During Chaos<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The horror extended far beyond physical assault. Amit’s own children \u2014 a 12-year-old son and an 8-year-old daughter \u2014 were also made to work at the kiln for long hours without pay. During the chaos that unfolded at the site in Ludhiana, Amit says his younger daughter hid under a cot to avoid the violence. His elder daughter, however, was not so lucky.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThey molested her,\u201d Amit said, breaking into tears. \u201cHer clothes were torn\u2026 I couldn\u2019t bear to see it.\u201d He alleged that another young woman \u2014 about 18 or 19 years old \u2014 who was his daughter\u2019s sister-in-law, was also molested during the attack.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

No Wages, No Freedom: Sold from One Kiln to Another<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Nirmal Gorana, Convenor of the National Campaign Committee for Eradication of Bonded Labour, said the visuals recorded by the labourers speak for themselves.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIn the video, you can clearly see men armed with wooden sticks and bricks attacking the labourers,\u201d said Gorana. \u201cEven a spade was thrown at them. A pregnant woman was injured. Children were also assaulted. It was only after some of them managed to reach the hospital that the full extent of the assault came to light.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

He raised an important question: Why were the brick kiln owners so desperate to stop the labourers from leaving?<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Sathish
Sathish Kumar, another bonded labourer who sustained serious head injuries during the violence | Photo courtesy: Special arrangement<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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According to Gorana, the answer may lie in the fact that the workers were held in complete bondage. \u201cWhen the ambulance was called, the gate was locked to stop them. The labourers had to break open the lock to save the pregnant woman. That moment unravelled the whole truth.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Despite the disturbing nature of these revelations, no action has yet been taken by the Ludhiana administration against either of the kiln owners. Activists and survivors continue to demand justice and a complete investigation into the growing abuse of labourers<\/a> across Punjab.<\/p>\n

A Law on Paper: Broken Promises of Protection<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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India outlawed bonded labour nearly five decades ago through the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, promising freedom, cancellation of debt, and rehabilitation for those trapped in forced labour. But for the 15 bonded labourers currently stranded in Ludhiana, this law remains a distant ideal, not a lived reality.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cThese workers were trafficked from Uttar Pradesh to Punjab and passed around like goods between brick kilns,\u201d said Gorana. \u201cThey were brutally beaten when they demanded their wages, and their stories expose how hollow our laws truly are.\u201d<\/p>\n

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He raised critical questions: \u201cHow does a Dalit family from Uttar Pradesh end up in a brick kiln in Punjab? Under the Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act, 1979, were the agents or contractors even authorised to transport them? Did they have valid licences?\u201d Gorana argued that the process of trafficking begins the moment someone\u2014unlicensed and unauthorised\u2014offers an advance to a desperate labourer, trapping them in a cycle of exploitation.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Bought and Beaten: A Marketplace of Human Lives<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The atrocities committed against these bonded labourers are violations of several laws\u2014not just the 1976 Bonded Labour Abolition Act. They include breaches of the\u00a0Child Labour Act, provisions of human trafficking under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and criminal charges of assault and intimidation.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe Ludhiana brick kiln owner paid \u20b934,800 to buy Amit\u2019s family from a kiln in Rupnagar,\u201d Gorana revealed. \u201cIn addition to that, he got four to five more workers\u2014free of charge. Pregnant women, minor children, everyone bundled into this so-called transaction. This way the other 10 labourers were also bought. Imagine the owner’s glee\u2014when he got 15 people to just work for him for free.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

According to Gorana, such transactions are commonplace. \u201cGo to any brick kiln, especially before the brick-making season begins, and you will see agents openly negotiating for human lives,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is not happening in the shadows\u2014it is out in the open. Yet, the administration looks the other way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Violence
Another bonded labourer who was beaten up in the Ludhiana brick kiln | Photo courtesy: Special arrangement<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“Administration Told us to Return to Abusers”<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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In a further insult to justice, when the assaulted labourers approached the Deputy Commissioner of Ludhiana, they were directed to meet the Sub-Divisional Magistrate. But what followed was deeply humiliating: the workers told The Probe that the SDM reportedly told them they had to return to the same kiln where they were beaten up\u2014only in that location would their statements be recorded.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cThe labourers waited outside that brick kiln all evening,\u201d said Gorana. \u201cBut no one from the administration came. What kind of justice system asks victims to return to their abusers just to get heard?\u201d<\/p>\n

Gorana also criticised both state governments. \u201cWhy is Uttar Pradesh silent on the trafficking of its citizens?\u201d he asked. \u201cThe Aam Aadmi Party, which governs Punjab, must answer for the daily exploitation happening in its cities. And the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, which never misses a chance to target AAP\u2014why is it mute when it comes to protecting its own labourers from such slavery?\u201d<\/p>\n

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When The Probe contacted Ludhiana\u2019s Deputy Commissioner Himanshu Jain, he promised to follow up after consulting the SDM. But despite repeated attempts, he failed to respond. Meanwhile, the 15 labourers remain in Punjab\u2014their belongings confiscated, their wages unpaid, their dignity violated.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

They have nowhere to go. With their freedom stolen and their pleas ignored, they now wait\u2014broken and desperate\u2014for a way to return home to Uttar Pradesh.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n