Bonded labour: Tamil Nadu man booked

CHENNAI: Days after 39 bonded labourers, including 17 children, were rescued from a sugarcane field in Veeradipatti village in Pudukkottai district of Tamil Nadu, the Gandarvakottai police registered a case against a man who had forced them into bonded labour.
The police registered a case under sections 16, 17, and 18 of the Bonded Labourer System (Abolition) Act 1976 against Mahadevan of Thiruvathigai village in Cuddalore district.
The police registered the case after revenue officials issued release certificates to 22 of them on May 5.
They 39 people were rescued from a sugarcane field following a tip-off from the members of the Foundation for Sustainable Development (FSD), an NGO.
The NGO was planning to request the police to invoke the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act 1986 against Mahadevan. “He forced several of the 17 children to work with their parents. He did not allow them to go to school,” said FSD executive director K Krishnan.