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Rajesh (left), who was rescued by an NGO; Garhwal MP Anil Baluni, who spoke to the Punjab Governor to facilitate his return. (Screengrab/File)
For the family of Rajesh, an Uttarakhand resident who was rescued from bonded labour in Punjab on June 15, it’s a reunion after 17 years, albeit a painful one.
Last week, a video from Punjab’s Tarn Taran went viral, showing Rajesh at a cow shed, dishevelled and in visible distress. An NGO rescued him from the family that had kept him as a bonded labourer, prompting Garhwal MP Anil Baluni to seek his return through the Governor of the state, Gulab Chand Kataria.
Rajesh, currently at the Tarn Taran district hospital, has shown mental distress and requires treatment. “He could not identify me, but quickly recalled our parents,” said his sister Rajeshwari, who last saw him in 2008, when she was 9. “I recognised him, but he had changed. He recounted the ordeal, and we took him to the hospital for a medical examination.”
Rajesh left home when he was 18, ostensibly in search of work. “He didn’t contact us, and we didn’t know he was in Punjab. I got married to a man in Punjab and came here. It was shocking to know he was in Tarn Taran,” she said.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Baluni said he stumbled on the video after a YouTuber and the head of the NGO, Jagjeet Singh, posted it. “When I came to know, I spoke with the family. I contacted the Governor to seek his return,” he said. In his post on X earlier, Baluni wrote, “The Honorable Governor expressed concern on this issue and assured me that after a thorough investigation of this incident, Rajesh’s location will be tracked and he will be rescued and taken to his native village as soon as possible.”
Jagjeet Singh, who runs the NGO Baba Ratan Dev Sewa Society, got the tipoff from a viewer of his channel. “We visit places where human rights violations are reported. This time, his neighbour informed us that three men were being made to work for over 20 hours a day and mistreated by the family that owns the cattle shed. The men were sleeping near the cattle, with cow dung all around them,” he said.
When they confronted the employers, their statements didn’t match with the account of the labourers and the informant. “The police were cooperative… MP Anil Baluni also called the Governor to facilitate his return,” he said.
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On June 15, his sister saw the video posted by the NGO and approached them. “He was assaulted day and night, made to work through the year, and not allowed to step out. Once, he tried to escape, but was caught and beaten up,” she said.
Singh said that once the family was informed, they were asked to report an identification mark. “He had fractured his finger during childhood, and they recalled this. When we checked, he had a crooked finger,” he said.
Aiswarya Raj is a correspondent with The Indian Express who covers South Haryana. An alumna of Asian College of Journalism and the University of Kerala, she started her career at The Indian Express as a sub-editor in the Delhi city team. In her current position, she reports from Gurgaon and covers the neighbouring districts. She likes to tell stories of people and hopes to find moorings in narrative journalism. ... Read More
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