Shame and horror in Palghar: Man kills self after being enslaved for Rs 500

Kalu Pawar a tribal from Mokhada in Palghar district died by hanging after being harassed over a loan of merely Rs 500 The 48yearold had borrowed the money from Ramdas Ambu Korde a close aide of local MLA Sunil Bhusara to buy kafan cloth used to wrap a dead body for the last rites of his 13yearold son in November To repay the loan Korde made him work in his field for monthsThe Mokhada police have booked Korde under Bonded Labour System Abolition Act Police registered an FIR against Korde after Pawarrsquos wife Savitra submitted a complaint on August 2 Police had initially registered an accidental death report ADR to allegedly suppress the matter However social activist Vivek Pandit who has been fighting for the welfare of tribals in the state forced the police to exhume Pawarrsquos body on August 4 and send it to J J Hospital in Mumbai for autopsyVivek Pandit the social activist whose relentless efforts got the accused in the case booked PicsHanif PatelSavitra in her police complaint stated that Korde had been harassing her husband since November last year Pawar had borrowed the money for the last rites of their son Dattu whose body was found under mysterious circumstances on the eve of Diwali days after he went missingAlso Read Palghar No roads tribals carry pregnant woman in makeshift stretcher for 5 kmWhile agreeing to give Pawar the money Korde instructed him to work in his field and take the cattle for grazing Savitra said in her complaintKalu Pawar the deceased right Savitra wife of the deceasedlsquoKorde threatened PawarrsquoldquoAfter conducting Dattursquos last rites my husband started working in Kordersquos field but no daily wages were fixed He Korde would give my husband only one bhakhri in the morning and a meal at night Whenever my husband would ask for wages Korde would threaten him with harmrdquo she addedldquoThe family is so poor that they could not buy wood for the funeral pyre so they buried Kalursquos bodyrdquo Panditrsquos associate Sita Ghatal told middaySavitra Pawarrsquos wife along with their left daughter right daughters of Kalu Pawar PicsHanif PatelPawar would work on Kordersquos field on and off but had been working regularly in June and July said Pandit Ghatal said ldquoA few days before ending his life his wife told me that Pawar fell ill and couldnrsquot go to work on July 10 and 11 When he went on July 12 Korde humiliated and beat up Pawar We have learnt that Pawar was very upset after this incidentrdquoGhatal said Pawar belongs to the Katkari Samaj tribal community and they live in Ashe village of Mokhada talukaActivist Vivek Pandit spent a full month trying to get the accused booked PICHanif PatellsquoMLA pressurised policersquoPandit chairman of a panel appointed by the state government to check the status of tribal schemes told midday ldquoKorde is the right hand man of MLA Bhusara who had been mounting pressure on the police to not take action against his man Bhusara also called me to dissuade me from following the issue to get the FIR registered Finally after a monthlong followup the accused has been booked but no arrest has been made yetrdquoldquoThe day Pawar hanged himself Savitra had gone to work in Bhiwandi Their daughters Dhanashree 16 and Durga 12 had gone to their maternal unclersquos houserdquo said Ghatal ldquoThe police said a detailed autopsy report is awaited and the body was buried again at the same spot in Mokhada on August 5rdquo she saidPandit said Korde is a subcontractor and owns a sprawling bungalow in the village ldquoHe Korde is also a tribal from Mahadev Koli Samaj but has been exploiting others in the areardquoHe added that Pawarrsquos body was hanging for 12 hours ldquoPawar had hanged himself around 6 am on July 13 and he was buried after 7 pm Korde had also visited his village on learning about the suicide but he did not inform the police Why no police officer was aware of the suicide Why was no evidence collected from the spot All the pieces of evidence were buried along with his bodyrdquo said PanditThe incharge of Mokhada police station Satish Gavai said ldquoWe have registered an FIR under Section 374 unlawful compulsory labour of IPC and Sections 17 and 18 of Bonded Labour System Abolition Act against the accused Korde We have not arrested him as our investigations are underwayrdquoMLA Bhusara said ldquoThe FIR against Korde is fake If such FIRs are registered then a time will come when no tribal will be called in to work in the fieldrdquo He also refuted the allegations of pressurising the police ldquoI instead told police to thoroughly conduct an investigation before taking any action against Korderdquo Bhusara said