00:00This was the first warm meal they had as free men in months.
00:04For some of them, years.
00:10Imagine being promised a job, a salary, food and a place to stay.
00:14Instead, you find yourself trapped behind locked gates,
00:17working nearly 20 hours a day,
00:19beaten if you slow down,
00:20and watched by pit bulls so you cannot escape.
00:22This is what 12 rescued labourers allege happened
00:25inside a disposable bowl manufacturing factory
00:28in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffar Dagar district.
00:30The case came to light after one worker, Vikram,
00:39from Rajasthan, Jodhpur, allegedly managed to climb over the factory wall
00:42and reached the Titawa police station on June 22nd.
00:57His complaint led to a joint raid by police and the administration,
01:01during which 12 bonded labourers, including miners,
01:04were rescued from the factory.
01:05According to police, the workers had been lured from railway stations,
01:08bus stands and other public places with promises of jobs,
01:11accommodation and monthly salaries of around 12-15,000 rupees.
01:16The rescued workers now alleged that once they entered the factory,
01:19their mobile phones and identity documents were taken away,
01:22the gates were locked and they were prevented from contacting their families
01:25or leaving the premises.
01:31Survivors told police and doctors they were forced to begin work around 4 in the morning
01:35and continue until nearly midnight, leaving them with only a few hours of sleep.
01:41They alleged they were never paid the wages they had been promised,
01:43illness was not accepted as a reason to stop working
01:46and anyone who resisted or attempted to escape was brutally assaulted.
01:54Several also alleged that pit bulls were kept inside and outside the factory
01:58in case someone tried to escape.
02:00Medical examinations, according to police,
02:02found multiple injuries on several rescue labourers,
02:05including bruises, cuts, fractures and signs of prolonged physical abuse.
02:09During that torture, three people died.
02:12When the man died from torture,
02:14they would dispose of them.
02:15They would dispose of them in a bowl or in some other things.
02:20A case has been registered against factory owner Ankit Balian,
02:23his father Pradeep Balian
02:25and factory supervisor Shiva Tyagi
02:27under multiple provisions of the Bharatian Nyaya Sanhita.
02:30Pradeep and Shiva have been arrested
02:32while Ankit remains absconding.
02:35No.
02:37No.
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