9-year-old tribal boy’s death in Tirupati district exposes bonded labour horror
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Tirupati: The shocking death of a 9-year-old boy from the Yanadi tribal community has brought to light a disturbing case of bonded labour and exploitation in Andhra Pradesh’s Tirupati district.
According to police, the boy, Yanadi Venkateshu, was illegally confined and forced into child labour for nearly a year by a family from N Agraharam in Satyavedu mandal. The Satyavedu police, under the supervision of Puttur DSP G Ravikumar, have arrested three accused: N Muthu (60), his wife M Dhanabhagyam (52), and their son M Rajasekhar (32).
The child’s mother, Ankamma, a resident of Chavatapalem in Gudur mandal, was working with her family as a farm labourer in Nellore district when they were approached by the accused. They were promised Rs 10,000/month wages and given an advance of Rs 15,000, only to be subjected to exploitative conditions, including duck rearing and agricultural work.
After Ankamma’s husband passed away, she returned home temporarily. Muthu then demanded Rs 45,000 to release the family from bonded labour. With no immediate funds, Ankamma left Venkateshu behind as a surety while she arranged the amount.
The boy, subjected to daily toil and abuse, pleaded to be rescued. Ankamma's repeated attempts to retrieve her son were met with lies, Muthu alternately claimed the child had been sent for work, hospitalized, or had run away.
The truth emerged after Ankamma filed a police complaint on 19 May 2025. Investigations revealed that Venkateshu had fallen ill on 11 April, was hospitalized in Pudupaalem, and died the next day. In a bid to hide the death, the accused secretly buried the body in Tamil Nadu’s Kancheepuram district, Muthu’s in-laws' native village.
The body was later exhumed under the supervision of Kanchi Sub-Collector Rafeeq and a postmortem was conducted at Chengalpattu Medical College. All three accused were remanded under multiple laws including the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, Child Labour Act, Juvenile Justice Act, and SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Activists highlight that this is not an isolated case. The Yanadi tribal community continues to face systemic exploitation across sectors such as duck rearing, charcoal production, brick kilns, and shrimp processing. Last year alone, nearly 50 Yanadi individuals were rescued from bonded labour across Andhra Pradesh.
In a similar recent case, Yanadi couple Namburu Padma and Agni from Nellore reported being trapped in bonded labour for over 15 years.
Shaik Basheer, Executive Secretary of ARD NGO and a District Vigilance Committee member, emphasized the urgent need for a State Action Plan on Bonded Labour to prevent such tragedies.
“Addressing individual cases is not enough. The state must proactively monitor industries and protect vulnerable communities,” he said.
NGOs such as Shed India have rescued other children from similar situations, and efforts are ongoing to ensure justice for Venkateshu’s family. Venkatesh, a representative of the National Adivasi Solidarity Council (NASC), confirmed that investigations continue, and the final postmortem report is awaited.
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MP boat tragedy: Death toll rises to 10 with recovery of one more body; 3 tourists still missing
Jabalpur (PTI): The body of a child was retrieved on Saturday evening from Bargi Dam in Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh, raising the death toll in the cruise boat tragedy that took place two days ago to ten, while search continued for three missing tourists.
The boat, operated by the state tourism department, capsized during a storm on Thursday evening with some of the survivors alleging negligence and safety lapses such as life jackets not being distributed in time.
The body recovered on Saturday evening was possibly that of six-year-old Viraj Soni, said Sub-Divisional Officer of Police (SDOP) Anjul Ayank Mishra.
"The identity will be confirmed after family members identify the body," he told PTI.
Kamraj, an employee of the Ordnance Factory at Khamaria, his five-year-old son Tamil, and another child Mayuram (5) who had come from southern India were still missing.
Authorities have arranged equipment to search deep waters of the dam and are getting a generator to facilitate diving operations, Mishra added.
Divers and disaster response teams have expanded the search radius to five km, he said.
Of the 41 identified passengers on board the ill-fated vessel, 28 were rescued, police said.
More than 200 rescuers, including around 20 Army divers airlifted from Agra, joined the search operation that resumed at 5 on Saturday morning. The operation, involving the National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force and local divers, was briefly affected at around 9 am due to strong winds, officials said.
Post-mortem examinations of nine deceased persons have been completed, Mishra said.
"Our priority is to search for the missing persons. We will also register a First Information Report in the case soon," he said.
Police said CCTV footage near the boarding point showed 43 people heading towards the boat while the identities of 41 passengers have been confirmed so far.
The state government on Friday ordered a probe into the tragedy and dismissed three crew members. It also banned operation of similar vessels in the state.
