Case Details of File Number: 4584/18/2/2013
Diary Number 11068/JR
Name of the Complainant LENIN RAGHUVANSHI, GENERAL SECRETARY
Address PVCHR COMMUNICATIONS, VARANASI , UTTAR PRADESH
Name of the Victim NILAMBARA DHANGDA MAJHI & PIALU DHANGADA MAJHI
Address JAIPATNA AREA, KALAHANDI , ORISSA
Place of Incident BOLANGIR BOLANGIR , ORISSA
Date of Incident 12/15/2013
Direction issued by the Commission The Commission's attention has been drawn to a news report in which it is claimed that two migrant workers from Odisha have had their right hands cut off by the labour contractor and his accomplices because they refused to be taken to Raipur, instead of Hyderabad, the destination to which they had been told they were being taken. The media has reported that the two workers are presently in the Government hospital in Bhabanipatna in District Kalahandi and that the police are trying to locate the suspects. If this report is true, it appears that a most brutal and savage crime was committed. It is essential, therefore, that the authorities spare no effort to bring the culprits to book. The victims are from among the most vulnerable strata of society, and will need immediate and continuing support from the Government of Odisha to help them recover from the trauma. The Commission therefore asks the Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police, Odisha, to immediately report: i) on the steps taken to identify and arrest the culprits; ii) on the immediate medical attention provided to the victims; iii) the measures that will be taken to rehabilitate them, and to give them compensation for their injuries, which are permanent and which will lead to disabilities that make it difficult for them to earn a living; iv) if any other relief that is being considered, including under the provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes(Prevention of Atrocities) Act, if the victims were from these groups; v) if the victims and their companions, who escaped, were being employed, or were being held, under terms that make them bonded labour in the definition of the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976 and if so, whether the measures required under the Law have been taken; vi) if the contractor, who was taking workers from Odisha to another State, had the required licenses and permissions under the provisions of the Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act. These reports will be expected by the 2nd January, 2014. Action Taken Action Taken Report Called for Status on 12/23/2013 Response from concerned authority is awaited.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: PVCHR Communication
Date: Tue, Dec 17, 2013 at 3:05 PM
Subject: Odisha contractor chops off migrant labourers’ hands
To: covdnhrc, jrlawnhrc
Cc: "Dr. Lenin Raghuvanshi"
IANS
Diary Number 11068/JR
Name of the Complainant LENIN RAGHUVANSHI, GENERAL SECRETARY
Address PVCHR COMMUNICATIONS, VARANASI , UTTAR PRADESH
Name of the Victim NILAMBARA DHANGDA MAJHI & PIALU DHANGADA MAJHI
Address JAIPATNA AREA, KALAHANDI , ORISSA
Place of Incident BOLANGIR BOLANGIR , ORISSA
Date of Incident 12/15/2013
Direction issued by the Commission The Commission's attention has been drawn to a news report in which it is claimed that two migrant workers from Odisha have had their right hands cut off by the labour contractor and his accomplices because they refused to be taken to Raipur, instead of Hyderabad, the destination to which they had been told they were being taken. The media has reported that the two workers are presently in the Government hospital in Bhabanipatna in District Kalahandi and that the police are trying to locate the suspects. If this report is true, it appears that a most brutal and savage crime was committed. It is essential, therefore, that the authorities spare no effort to bring the culprits to book. The victims are from among the most vulnerable strata of society, and will need immediate and continuing support from the Government of Odisha to help them recover from the trauma. The Commission therefore asks the Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police, Odisha, to immediately report: i) on the steps taken to identify and arrest the culprits; ii) on the immediate medical attention provided to the victims; iii) the measures that will be taken to rehabilitate them, and to give them compensation for their injuries, which are permanent and which will lead to disabilities that make it difficult for them to earn a living; iv) if any other relief that is being considered, including under the provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes(Prevention of Atrocities) Act, if the victims were from these groups; v) if the victims and their companions, who escaped, were being employed, or were being held, under terms that make them bonded labour in the definition of the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976 and if so, whether the measures required under the Law have been taken; vi) if the contractor, who was taking workers from Odisha to another State, had the required licenses and permissions under the provisions of the Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act. These reports will be expected by the 2nd January, 2014. Action Taken Action Taken Report Called for Status on 12/23/2013 Response from concerned authority is awaited.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: PVCHR Communication
Date: Tue, Dec 17, 2013 at 3:05 PM
Subject: Odisha contractor chops off migrant labourers’ hands
To: covdnhrc
Cc: "Dr. Lenin Raghuvanshi"
To,
The Chairperson
National Human Rights Commission
New Delhi
Dear Sir,
I want to bring in your kind attention towards the news published in The Hindu on 17th December, 2013
Odisha contractor chops off migrant labourers’ hands
Odisha contractor chops off migrant labourers’ hands
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File photo of migrant labourers being transported in a truck to a work site in Kerala. Photo: S Gopakumar
Odisha Police have launched a manhunt to nab a labour contractor and his four henchmen who allegedly chopped off the hands of two migrant workers two days ago, a police official said on Tuesday.
The brutal crime took place on a roadside in Bolangir district on Sunday night. However, it came to light only after the victims reached the government hospital at Bhabanipatna in neighbouring Kalahandi disrtrict, about 420 km from Bhubaneswar the next day.
Police said a local labour contractor paid about Rs.14,000 in advance each to 12 workers from Jaipatna area of Kalahandi district about a fortnight ago for some labour work in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh.
But instead of taking them to the promised destination, the workers were being taken to Raipur to work at a brick kiln. The workers refused to work in Raipur and ten of the 12 workers fled, according to police.
Angry at the escape of the workers, the contractor and his henchmen allegedly tried to bring the remaining two workers in a vehicle to their respective homes in Kalahandi district to recover the money given as advance. On their way, the contractor and his henchmen consumed liquor and chopped off the right hands of the two workers, police said.
The victims were identified as Nilambara Dhangda Majhi, 35, and Pialu Dhangada Majhi, 30.
District Superintendent of Police Sarthak Sarangi told IANS: “We have formed two teams and raided the houses of the suspects. Many of the workers have also not yet returned to their homes. Search is on to locate them.”
Odisha’s western districts of Kalahandi, Koraput and Bolangir are considered to be some of the economically most backward areas in the country. Every year, thousands of residents migrate in search of jobs.
Therefore it is a kind request please take appropriate earliest.
Thanking You
Sincerely Yours
Lenin Raghuvasnshi
Secretary General
PVCHR
Mo: 09935599333
