Two rescued from bonded labour in Ariyalur

Two male siblings employed as bonded labourers have been rescued from a sheep-rearing unit in Ariyalur by an NGO and a team of revenue officials.

The boys aged 15 and 12 years belonging to Kuvagam village have been working as shepherds in lieu of a loan of ₹36,000 obtained from the unit by their parents.

The older brother started working at the unit since March and the younger one for over a year. The incident came to light when an anonymous caller alerted ‘1098’ Childline.

Officials of the revenue department and Irulapoo Selvakumar, president, Pazhangudi Irular Peravai, Tamil Nadu, and a State-level consultant on tribal issues, assisted the authorities in the rescue of the two children from Ramesh, from Wodaiyarpalayam.

“When we located the boys and confronted the unit owner around 11 pm, he hid them. After further investigation, he handed them over,” Mr. Selvakumar said.

The boys were rescued on Tuesday and sent to a children’s home nearby. An FIR has been registered against the unit owner.

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