Raped, Confined & Beaten, Two Adivasi Women Go Hiding In Forest For A Month In Karnataka

Two Adivasi women from Dumka in Jharkhand were alleged to be forcibly confined in a factory they were employed in and physically abused before they escaped and hid in a forest for nearly a month, with their two minor daughters. They have now been rescued.

One of the women accused two men of gangraping her in the factory in Kengeri. An FIR was filed against two factory workers on May 23 under Section 376D of the IPC and SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act.

"The two people have been arrested. The owner of the factory is in Chennai and because of the Covid-19 situation there, we have not been able to go there. But an investigation is under way into the bonded labour allegations," The Indian Express quoted DSP Om Prakash as saying.

The two women boarded a Shramik train with their children - aged five and eight - on June 3, and reached Jharkhand on June 5.

The complaint filed with the police says that the women began working at the factory in October. They were made to work for 15 hours at a stretch. Instead of being paid Rs. 9,000 per month, which they had been promised, they were paid Rs. 200 a week.

The two women attempted to escape the factory in January but a factory supervisor hunted them down and brought them back.

"They were brought back in the owner's car. This time, they were locked up, beaten, threatened with rape and their Aadhaar cards and phones taken away," said Nicholas Murmu, a Jharkhand worker who met the women days back in May.

Murmu had met the two women on May 5 outside Kumbalgodu police station, 25-odd km from Bengaluru. They were trying to go back home. He realised that the two spoke only Santhali.

"When I realised they didn't speak Hindi, and they had two children with them, I gave them my number in case they needed help," said Murmu.

According to the women's advocate Rajlakshmi, "Initially, the police did not file a complaint of bonded labour or trafficking, but they have now said they will investigate. The labour department has given Rs 1 lakh each to the victims as compensation for the wages they had been deprived of."

The women escaped again in mid-March and took shelter in a forest in Kumbalagodu. They stepped out only to ask for food from villagers.

Seeing their ordeal, a contractor offered them shelter at a building he owned.

"On May 21, I got a call from one of them, saying that the contractor was threatening them into entering a sexual relationship with them. That's when I contacted the police," said Murmu.

The women were rescued with the help of volunteer groups who are helping with the migrant crisis.

"When they realised that the police were willing to help, they told us about the violence they had faced. One of them identified the two men who had raped her," said Murmu.

The two women and their children are now under quarantine in Dumka. They have undergone COVID test and are waiting for the results.

Also Read: Kerala: Woman Gang-Raped In Presence Of Five-Year-Old Son, Husband & Four Friends Arrested