Representative picture | Photo Credit: Hind
The tribal couple, who has been in slavery for years, claims that they were forced to walk over 30 km overnight to get home because they could not afford travel expenses after their rescue in the Jajpur district.
Naveen Munda (47), his wife Balma (34) and their three children were rescued on Tuesday, August 26, 2025). While three children, including a girl, were moved to various shelter houses, Mr. Munda remained on Wednesday (August 27, 2025) to submit a criminal case against his employer, who allegedly held him in captivity and tortured him for decades in a brick furnace in Madhapur in the Jajpur district.
Mr Munda, however, said he soon lost faith in the police and feared that he was influenced by his employer and that there was little hope for justice. “I have been offered 5,000 GBPs to insist on submitting a police complaint. I refused to determine from the determination,” he said.
Scared, decided to return home. Without money for traveling, the couple set out on foot and walked a few kilometers before the truck driver offered them an elevator. They went through Wednesdays again (August 27, 2025) and Thursday 28 August 2025) to Bandipur in the neighboring Bhadrak district.
When the officials of the Jajpur district together with the social workers reached the brick furnaces on Tuesday (26 August 2025), they found that the situation was grim. “It was a low -roof house. The condition was so uncertain that it could collapse at any time. There was no place to live,” said Ajay Panda, charged Tahasildar, who led the rescue team.
Mr. Panda confirmed that the family was under slavery. “According to the victim’s complaint, one family member has always been forced to stay back as hostage whenever he wanted to visit his home. This is equal to slavery. We will continue to verify it in our subsequent investigation,” he said.
District Officer for the Protection of Children Niranjan Kar added that children were never registered in school. “They were involved in a brick furnace and were also forced to do housework,” he said.
Since everything happened in a hurry, the couple was supposed to get an immediate compensation of 30,000 GBP.
According to the Ministry of Labor and Employment, the financial assistance in rehabilitation is the rescued joined worker 1 lakh per adult male recipient and £ 2 lakhs for recipients of special categories such as children, including orphans or those rescued from organized and forced begging or other forms of forced children’s work and women.
“We are a deeply grateful district administration for their rapid action. Without them, this family could remain imprisoned for many more years. But freedom must mean more than release – it must also mean security and dignity. What happened to the police station is an unacceptable statement.
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Published – August 29 2025 02:27
