Slave Driver, Son Get 5 Years Rigorous Imprisonment

CHENNAI: In a path breaking verdict, a fast track court in Thiruvallur on Tuesday handed out a five year rigorous imprisonment term, besides fines ranging from Rs 26,000 to Rs 56,000, to a rice mill owner and his associates, who faced charges of slavery and bonded labour.
The conviction of Kandasamy Mudaliar, owner of Powerhouse Rice Mill in Kadambattur in Thiruvallur district, his son K Sivakumar and the mill's accountant Munusamy Naidu is perhaps the first conviction in a slavery case since the 19th century.
Police investigations revealed that the accused had held labourers, from the Irula community (a scheduled tribe), as captives inside the mill and did not let them out even during medical emergencies.
The exploitation of workers came to light after district officials raided the mill on August 9, 2005, and released 15 bonded labourers and their dependents. Just 14 months before the raid, Kandasamy was convicted of advancing bonded debt to his workers but he got away with a fine of Rs 500 and imprisonment until 'the rising of the court'.
International Justice Mission, a rights organisation, in a statement said Kandasamy has a record of exploiting people of Schedule Castes andScheduled Tribes. The NGO's Chennai director, Saju Mathew, said: "Bonded labour is a heinous crime that India's highest courts have always called an embarrassment to our society."