Bhubaneswar: A petition was filed with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Sunday, seeking justice for a 60-year-old hapless labourer from Nuapada district who had his fingers and toes chopped off by a few labour agents when he asked for his wages in Maharashtra recently.
In his petition (12288/IN/2019), rights activist Dillip Kumar Das informed the apex rights body that Chamru Paharia, a hapless daily wager of Tikirapada under Komna police limits in Nuapada, was lured by two labour agents, Dolamani Satnami and Bideshi Sunani, of the same locality to work as a construction worker in Maharashtra’s Nagpur. As Chamru agreed to their offer, they took him to Nagpur in July this year. However, nearly one and a-half-months back, when Chamru asked them for his wages, they did not pay him.
“Chamru accused the duo of duping him. In a heated argument, the duo chopped the right fingers and toes of Chamru and dumped an unconscious Chamru near Nagpur railway station,” said the activist.
Das added that RPF personnel spotted an unconscious Chamru and rushed him to a nearby healthcare facility. Desperate efforts of RPF personnel to connect with Chamru’s family went futile. Last week, Chamru somehow came out of the hospital and reached the railway station where some kind-hearted people helped him buy a ticket to his village.
The incident, however, came to the fore after he reached his village a week back. A hapless Chamru, along with a few locals, lodged a complaint with Komna police.
Sources said Komna police is yet to take any action in the case. Meanwhile, Chamru has been struggling with the infected wounds.
The rights activist has sought a directive to the authorities for ensuring rehabilitation to the hapless daily wager as per the Bonded Labour Rehabilitation Act. He also urged the commission to direct the authorities to pay the initial monetary compensations to the victim as prescribed in the Act.
This apart, Nayak also urged the commission to initiate disciplinary action against the Labour Department and the local police as they have miserably failed to discharge their duty of keeping tab on the migrant labourers leaving/entering the district. He alleged that the district police in the under privileged districts like Kalahandi, Nuapara, Bolangir have been receiving lakhs only to take special efforts for keeping track of the status of labourers migrated to outside the state. Moreover, Nayak also sought immediate arrest of the two labourer agents so as to save numerous migrant labourers like Chamru.