Seeking reports from the police and health department in a case pertaining to a minor allegedly held captive as a bonded labour and subjected to physical abuse, the Haryana Human Rights Commission has observed that the facts of the case indicate “deprivation of basic human dignity” and a “total breakdown” of the protective mechanisms that ought to shield children from such exploitation.
Taking suo motu cognisance of a media report earlier this month, the three-member commission has sought a detained report, including the status of compensation, investigation and welfare measures, from the Deputy Commissioners of Jind and Nuh within eight weeks. The Superintendents of the Police of the two districts should conduct a detailed inquiry, including identification and apprehension of the accused, said the panel, directing the Nuh Child Protection Officer to prepare a rehabilitation plan, inclusive of psychological counselling, education and repatriation to his family.
Headed by Justice Lalit Batra, the Commission observed that the failure of authorities to detect and prevent this incident raised serious questions about the adequacy of existing surveillance and rescue mechanisms, especially in vulnerable migration corridors.
The victim, Santosh, 14, with his arm severed from the elbow and crudely bandaged, was walking along the road in Nuh on July 29 when two schoolteachers spotted him and took him to a police station. He was later shifted to the PGIMS Rohtak after a first-aid at a hospital in Nuh. The teenager later told the police that he was held captive at some place in Haryana as a bonded labourer and had severed his arm while feeding grass into a motorised chopper. After the accident, his employer had allegedly cut his arm, hanging from his hand, with a blade and abandoned him in the forest.
Referring to the news report, the commission said: “It is stated that the child, after being separated from his companions at Bahadurgarh Railway Station, was approached by an unknown individual who offered him work in a buffalo dairy in exchange for a monthly wage of ₹10,000. However, instead of lawful employment, the minor was allegedly subjected to continuous forced labour and physical abuse for two months”.
“Such treatment of a minor is a direct violation of international legal obligations, particularly under Article 32 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child,” the Commission observed, adding that The alleged acts also constitute prima facie contravention of various provisions of domestic law, including the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976 and Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986”.
Such incidents amounted to gross violations of fundamental human rights enshrined under Articles 21 and 23 of the Constitution of India. guaranteeing the right to life with dignity and prohibiting trafficking and forced labour, the Commission observed, with Kuldeep Jain and Deep Bhatia being the two members on the panel.
