Nine Beed landlords arrested for forcing children in 8-13 age group to work as bonded labourers

Thane, Jul 12 (PTI) Seventeen children in the 8-13 age group from Maharashtra's Raigad district made to work as bonded labourers in Beed in the state's Marathwada region have been rescued, following which nine persons were arrested on Saturday, officials said.
The children, including several girls, were forced to do laborious tasks like cattle grazing, cleaning of cattle shed, washing vessels at home, and cooking, they added.
A Beed police official said raids were conducted on the premises of nine landlords on June 20 by the Child Welfare Committee of Ahilyanagar district on the directions of the labour commissioner, resulting in the children being released from bondage.
Following the raids, a case was registered at Ashti police station on June 22 against nine persons hailing from Sevalal Nagar Tanda, Mhasobachiwadi and Ashti, said Beed Superintendent of Police Navneet Kanwat.
Uttam Kondiba Chavan (46), Dileep Zumbar Rathod (54), Sanjay Vasaram Jadhav (47), Santosh Govardhan Rathod (39), Ramesh Nemichand Rathod (38), Vishnu Vasaram Jadhav (46), Datttatreya Zhumbar Rathod (51), Kishore Vinayak Rathod (30) and Ashok Sriram Rathod (47) were arrested on Saturday, the SP said.
"The nine have been booked under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Juvenile Justice Act, Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act and Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act. They have been remanded in four-day police custody. The children are in shelter homes at present," the official said.
Meanwhile, Shramjivi Sanghatana general secretary Balaram Bhoir said the children will return to Raigad only after police agrees to the demand of invoking stringent sections of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)