(Rptng fixing word in para one)

Cuddalore, Dec 23 (UNI) A total of 20 bonded labourers hailing from this district, including a 12-year-old girl, have been rescued from rpt from a brick kiln owner in Kerala by Tamil Nadu government officials.

According to Cuddalore District Collector Gagandeep Singh Bedi, these labourers, 14 from Azhichikudi village near Vriddhachalam and six from Vriddhachalam, were taken to Kerala by an agent, Marimuthu.

He promised them Rs 110 per day as wages.

When they reached there, they found that no wages were being paid to them. They were given some provisions to cook food and their movements were restricted.

Many of them were beaten, especially a 19-year-old widowed girl, Vennila with a baby. She was beaten for protesting against the infant being snatched from her when she was feeding the baby.

12-year-old girl, Anjali, had wounds all over her. She was given the job of looking after the children of the brick kiln owner.

All this came to light when one of the labourers, Balakrishnan, escaped, came back home and told the tale to Vridhachalam Tahsildar Pattusamy. He in turn told the RDO, who informed the Collector.

The latter wrote to his Ernakulam counterpart and then sent a team of officials and police to Kerala. The labourers returned home this morning and Rs 1000 was provided to each as immediate relief.

More help will be given after ascertaining the veracity of their story. Action is being initiated against the agent.

UNI XR AA PA DS1336