Ranchi: Twenty four girls hailing from West Singhbhum and Saraikela districts of the state on Wednesday were airlifted from Chennai and brought to Ranchi.
These girls were trapped in Coimbatore and were forced to work as bonded labourers in various pharmaceutical units. The girls said that a middleman identified as Sanjay Joko had taken them to Tamilnadu in the pretext of getting them jobs in the garment units but when they reached in the state they were taken to the pharma units where they were trapped for two months and forced to work as bonded labourers.
Narrating their ordeal one of the girls said she had gone to Coimbatore on October 3 from Ranchi in name of getting a stitching job but upon reaching the place she and other girls were taken to a pharmaceutical plant where they were not even given two times meal and were denied break even after falling ill.
Another girl said that they had been promised a salary of Rs 12,000 but actually were given Rs 5,000 and when they protested they were subjected to different types of harassment including removal from plant or denial of food. Fed up daily torture the girls somehow contacted the control room of FIYA foundation and sought their help to come back home.
The organisation informed the government and made preparations to bring them back. The girls were rescued with the help of Labour department and were airlifted from Chennai to Ranchi from where they would be sent to their respective native homes.