Thursday October 14, 2010
Man from India seeks release of 15 ‘bonded labourers’
OTHER NEWS & VIEWS
Compiled by P. ARUNA, REENA NATHAN, BEH YUEN HUI and A. RAMAN
AN 80-year-old man from Nagapattinam district has filed a petition in the Madras High Court seeking the release of his son and 14 others, who he alleged were working as “bonded labourers” in Malaysia, reported Makkal Osai. In his petition, P. Sathasivam of Asanakudi, Nannilam Taluk, claimed that the 15 Indian citizens had been working as labourers in a restaurant in Kepong since 2008.
Sathasivam said he had received information from his son via telephone and letters that he and the other men were put up in a dark hotel room without food and water. He claimed that they were also forced to work unpaid, without rest days and their travel documents held by their employers. He claimed that the men were being treated like slaves and their lives were in danger, adding that this was an offence under both Indian and Malaysian laws.
