Workers at a brick kiln. Representative image.
Credit: PTI File Photo
Thane: A case was registered on Thursday against a brick kiln owner at Bhiwandi in the district for allegedly forcing a tribal couple to work as bonded labourers and assaulting the woman's husband, police said.
The 30-year-old woman from the Katkari community had filed a complaint in this regard at Bhiwandi taluka police station.
A First Information Report was registered against Pandit Mhatre under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections including 115(1) (assault), 127(2) (wrongful confinement) besides relevant provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976. said a police official.
No arrest has been made yet, he said.
As per the woman's complaint, she and her husband worked at Mhatre's brick kiln at Kharbaon. In May 2024, when she was five months pregnant, she took a loan of Rs. 12,000 from the accused and returned to her village Satpati while her husband took a job on a fishing boat.
In October 2024, the accused visited her house, and allegedly forced the couple to resume working at his kiln, even though she pleaded with him that she was recovering from child birth.
The couple were forced to live on the premises of a temple, and paid only Rs 20 per day, the woman alleged.
On February 23 and 24, 2025, when the woman was unwell and unable to work, the accused allegedly hurled caste-based abuse at her, and assaulted her husband, following which a complaint was lodged.
Further probe was underway.