Priyanka Gandhi condemns UP’s bonded labour reports, seeks severe punishment for guilty

New Delhi, June 24 (IANS) Congress leader and Lok Sabha MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra took to social media on Wednesday to condemn the shocking incident reported from Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar, where police rescued over a dozen labourers working in confinement under inhuman conditions.

“A heart-wrenching case of bonded labour has come to light in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, which cannot be tolerated in any civilised society,” she wrote on X.

They were reportedly forced to work at a tote-making factory, kept locked, and made to work with meagre rations, and even subjected to corporal punishment.

According to reports, the labourers were held captive. Instead of being paid wages, they were subjected to horrific torture. They were fed dry rotis and animal fodder, beaten with sharp weapons and whips, and made to be bitten by dogs, she added.

The rescued workers alleged that their documents and mobile phones were taken away while they were kept in isolation from the outside world, said reports. They claimed that they were lured with promises of a good job and a salary. Instead, they endured the ordeal for as long as 2 years.

“This is not merely cruelty against a few individuals, but an assault on human dignity and on our Constitution. Strict action must be taken in the matter, and the guilty must be given such punishment that it sets a precedent,” Priyanka demanded.

A probe has already begun into the incident of alleged bonded labour, involving illegal confinement, assault, and reported deaths in captivity. Authorities were reportedly alerted by a worker who managed to escape, and a raid was carried out on Monday by joint teams comprising police and the administration, including representatives of the Labour Department.

The rescued labourers were said to have been brought from several districts of Uttar Pradesh, nearby Bihar and Jharkhand, as well as from Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, and even Nepal. Arrests of suspected perpetrators have also been made after the raid, reports added.

–IANS

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