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The boy, who was allegedly confined and forced into labour in Haryana’s Jind district, was rescued in the town of Nuh on Tuesday. (Express Archives: Jasbir Malhi)
A 15-year-old boy from Bihar, allegedly confined and forced into labour at a dairy farm in Haryana’s Jind district, walked more than 150 km with a severed arm before he was rescued in the town of Nuh on Tuesday, according to the police.
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The boy, who hails from the Kishanganj district of Bihar, told the police that he had been recruited under false pretenses and promised a monthly wage of Rs 10,000. Instead, he said, he was confined to a room, denied food and wages, and made to operate a motorised fodder chopper, which he says, caused the injury that severed his arm.
Following the accident, he alleged that he was given medication that rendered him unconscious. When he woke up, he was in a dispensary, with a small amount of money in his possession. After falling asleep again, he woke up to find his money and clothes missing, and was allegedly asked to leave by a dispensary staff member.
With no identification and unable to recall the exact location of the farm, he began walking home — toward Bihar, nearly 1,000 km away — before being spotted near Tauru in Nuh district by two government school teachers.
“He was walking barefoot in the rain and looked like he hadn’t eaten in days,” said Arvind Kumar, one of the teachers. “He seemed confused and very weak.”
The teachers offered him food and took him to a nearby police post, eventually reaching the Nuh Sadar police station. Assistant Sub-Inspector Kamal Singh provided the boy with a set of his own clothes and arranged medical care at the Nuh government health centre.
Doctors who treated the boy said the injury was at least two weeks old. The crude bandaging on his arm suggested that it had not been professionally dressed for several days.
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Police officials said that communication with the boy was initially difficult due to language barriers as he spoke in a dialect from the Seemanchal region of Bihar. However, the cops managed to trace his family through the Kishanganj police. His brother and other relatives, who work as daily wage labourers in Kaithal, arrived in Nuh later that evening and took him to PGIMS Rohtak, where he underwent surgery on Thursday. He is now in a stable condition.
The Nuh police said that while they had considered registering a zero FIR, the boy’s family ultimately declined to pursue a case, citing financial hardship.
“This is now a matter for the police in Jind to pursue, if they wish,” a police spokesperson said. “We have done our part.”
When contacted, Sagar Kumar, the Superintendent of Police in Kishanganj, said he had no knowledge of the case. It remains unclear whether the boy’s family has since returned to Bihar or filed a complaint with local authorities.