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1. one Shri. Gurmeet Singh S/o Massa Singh R/o Village Jaura Kairon, Tehsil Patti, District Tarn Taran aged about 31years has approached our head office at Phillaur and narrated the facts as under;

(A)         That Gurmeet Singh belongs to the Sansi caste which is a scheduled caste in the State of Punjab. He was employed as a Siri by the Sarpanch of the village Shri Jagdish Singh S/o Sucha Singh R/o Village Jaura Kairon, Tehsil Patti District Tarn Taran in the month of June 2013.

(B)         Gurmeet Singh was lured from his previous employment by Jagdish Singh with the promise that a house will be built for him and he will also get a wage of 32,000 per year for working as a siri at his agricultural farm. Gurmeet Singh was also given a debt advance of Rs 22,500 by the employer Jagdish Singh at time of his employment so that he could repay the bonded debt of his previous employer and buy his freedom to work for Jagdish Singh.

(C)        Gurmeet Singh was made to work from week hours in the morning upto mid-night without adequate rest. He was not allowed weekly rest nor was he given any leave during sickness or public holidays. When Gurmeet Singh fell sick and was too weak to resume work, he wished to take leave and rest at home. At that time, the employer Jagdish Singh barged into his home abused him with filthy language, slapped him repeatedly and forcibly dragged him back to work.

(D)        That Gurmeet Singh laboured hard as a siri but he was not paid his earned wages nor was the employer’s promise of building him a house ever fulfilled. Due to over work, lack of adequate rest, lack of wages, malnutrition and mental trauma Gurmeet Singh fell lost more and more of his physical strength. Unable to withstand such harsh conditions and realising that the debt advance and the promise of the house etc was empty, Gurmeet Singh decided to leave the employment and take up alternative waged employment. But Jagdish Singh told him that he is not free to leave the employment till the bonded debt which had now piled up to Rs 30,000, is repaid to the employer.

(E)         The employer sensing that Gurmeet Singh may leave the employment, he forcibly took the thumb impression of Gurmeet Singh on some blank papers. Now Gurmeet Singh unable to bear the torture meted out to him by his employer has left the employement and taken up some daily waged work in some other village far from the eyes of the employer. But this was not tolerated by the employer who blocks Gurmeet Singh on his way to work and stops him from being employed elsewhere. The employer Jagdish Singh has threatened Gurmeet Singh with his life if he does not return to work or else to buy his freedom by paying the bonded debt of Rs 30,000.

That Gurmeet Singh has been stopped from even earning his daily bread by the employer Jagdish Singh till the bonded debt is satisfied.