Bihar in bondage

When the two middle men of a series of child trafficking incidents picked their victims, they were obviously unaware of just how far the parents were willing to go to get their children back. Personally handpicked from Bihar’s Sehersa and Supol Districts to work under bondage on Amritsar’s fields, seven boys were rescued on April 10. The children, some as young as nine years old were forced to work under the influence of opium, a suppressant drug, throughout the past four years for over 16 hours a day.

Suraj Sada (12), Lalkund Sada (15) and Mantun Sada (10) from Saharsa District of Bihar and Satto Sada (9) of Supol district of Bihar were rescued by Bachpan Bachao Andolan, an NGO working against human trafficking, from the homes of various Punjab farmers. after having been trafficked by Ramchandar Sada of the same village, who paid Rs 500-1,000 to the parents, to Dilbagh Singh of Amritsar, who would in turn sell them for Rs 10,000-15,000. The transaction that took place between Ramchandra and Dilbagh is yet to be determined as they are both absconding. BBA has received confirmed reports that over 60 boys from various districts of Bihar have been sold to a number of landlords in Amritsar, Punjab.

“For nearly 3 years I worked with Munim Singh. Neither me nor my family have received a single paisa,” says eight-year-old Satto Sada. “Around four years ago Ramchandra met me and told me that my mom would receive good money for my work. He left me with Dilbagh Singh, where I worked for about a year. Dilbagh then left me with his brother, Munim Singh. Munim owned 20 cattle. I would wake at 4 in the morning and tend to cattle till 12, midnight. Besides me there was another boy who also worked with me. We would be served the leftover rotis from the previous day at 12 noon, followed by dinner: the day’s leftovers, at 12 midnight. We would have to wake up at night to water the fields. Even during winters we had to do it. We never wore shoes, and occasionally wore chappals. While working, when we got tired, the landlord would give us chai, immediately after which I would start vomiting. Munim would tell me that Ramchandra has eaten our daily wages. If we fell ill, he gave us tablets and immediately put us to work.”

“The mix (tablet) a particular drug called Afim (opium) in the chai which makes the children work continuously without feeling tired. Two of the children we rescued slept for two days continuously when they were taken off it,” says Kailash Satyarthi, chairman, BBA.

On March 30, a previous batch of 3 children, Subhash Sada, Jai Krishna Sada and Jitendra Sada from the same two villages had been rescued by BBA from Amritsar. Ramachandra would scout the area for financially vulnerable families and then talk to the parents saying their son would bring back a lot of money and make them proud. Some of the parents who went to Amritsar to find their children were violently sent back empty handed.

“When we confronted Ramchandra, he told us that our children had run away and so we could neither have our children nor the money,” says an enraged KaliDevi who lost her husband while her son, Mantun Sada, was away but could not inform him of it. Mantun was kept at Dilbagh’s house itself, “He used to sell Afim. I told him I would never take it and he threatened to kill me.”

Although there isn’t a separate law for Child trafficking for Bonded Labour, this is a crime under section 363, 371 and 374 of the IPC. It is also a crime under Bonded Labour Abolition Act 1976 and Juvenile Justice Act 2000. “Since all the victims belong to Schedule cast, the culprits are also liable to be punished under Prevention of Atrocities on SC/ST Act 1989,” says Satyarthi.

According to Human Rights Watch, at least 15 million children are working as virtual slaves. Agriculture accounts for 52 to 87 per cent of the population of bonded child labourers. They can also be in bondage working as domestic help; in the domestic, export industries (silk and silk saris, beedi, silver jewellry, synthetic and precious gemstones, footwear and sporting goods, and handwoven wool carpets); and in services like small restaurants, truck stops and tea shops.

Estimates of the number of child labourers in India vary from 60 million to 115 million. Other instances of children in forced labour are found in prostitution, begging, drug selling and petty crime. Trafficking of children is specifically reported from the carpet industry.

Bihar, a victim of trafficking for bonded labour in many parts of the country, continues to be victimised by ‘recruiting agents’ and middlemen all the way from the Andaman islands to the fields of Punjab.