Telangana girl death: Case against Mulugu farmer who hired child labourer

HYDERABAD:  Investigations into the circumstances that led to the death of the 12-year-old tribal child during her 100-km walk to her village in Chhattisgarh, have revealed that she and her group had received Rs 500 and 12-kg rice from the Telangana government.

This was only a day before they left. The girl had been working as a labourer in a chilli plantation in Mulugu district since February 2 and had been in talks with the owner of the farm to leave after the lockdown was lifted on April 14. However, when the lockdown was extended, the group began planning ways to leave owing to the fear of being stuck indefinitely. 

On April 15, they were given the State-announced support by officials. But it was evidently not enough to get the group to stay. 

"Officials who visited the plantation saw that the farmer had provided them with food and essentials during the lockdown. In fact, the State had also reached out in giving assistance on April 15. However, they left at night without informing anyone by taking the forest route. This was an aberration and we have booked a case against the farmer, M Santosh, as he failed to inform officials and had employed the child," said Mulugu Collector S Krishna Aditya.

The Collector has asked revenue officials to reach out to all farmers and instruct them to ensure that no tribals leave the State during the lockdown. "We have formed multi-disciplinary teams to ensure the welfare of these workers," said Krishna Aditya.