A man, who had been mortgaged by his wife and cousin for `15,000, has been made to work as a bonded labourer at a tent house company in Gurgaon for over five years now. He was let off recently when his family traced him and paid back the amount along with the interest.
The man, through his younger brother, has now filed a complaint at the Kisni police station in Mainpuri district.
According to a sub-inspector at the police station, who is looking into his complaint, the man has accused his wife and cousin of mortgaging him and also the tent house owner of illegal confinement. The police has begun investigations into the matter. According to the police report, Bharat Singh, a resident of Jatpura village in Mainpuri district had migrated to Gurgaon in 2004 in search of a job. He got a job as labourer at a tent house. After a few months, he called his wife Madhu to stay with him in Gurgaon. Some time later, his cousin Ram Kishore came to stay with the couple and Bharat got him a job in the same tent house.
After some time, Bharat found that his wife and his cousin were having an affair. The two had a showdown and a few days later, Madhu went missing. Bharat searched for his wife and when he could not trace her, he decided to return to his village. When he sought leave from his employer, he was shocked to learn that his wife and cousin had taken a sum of `15,000 from the employer and had mortgaged him in return.
Meanwhile, Madhu returned to her in-laws in Mainpuri and informed them that her husband had gone missing. Last month, Bharat’s younger brother Sanju had gone to Gurgaon for some work and accidentally met his brother.
Bharat related his tale of woe to his brother who then approached his employer, Ram Gopal Gujjar.
Gujjar said that Bharat’s earnings during the past five years had been “adjusted in the money spent on his food clothes and other allowances”.
He said that the principal amount of `15,000 and the interest of `4,000 should be paid before Bharat could return home.
Sanju returned home, arranged for the money and finally got his brother released from Gurgaon.
Meanwhile, Madhu maintains that it was Bharat who had mysteriously disappeared and that she had not taken any money from his employer.