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

Pawar’s house at Ashe village in Mokhada taluka

Kalu Pawar, a tribal from Mokhada in Palghar district died by hanging after being harassed over a loan of merely Rs 500. The 48-year-old 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 13-year-old son in November. To repay the loan, Korde made him work in his field for months.

The Mokhada police have booked Korde under Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act. Police registered an FIR against Korde after Pawar's 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 Pawar's body on August 4 and send it to J J Hospital in Mumbai for autopsy.

Vivek Pandit, the social activist whose relentless efforts got the accused in the case booked. Pics/Hanif Patel

Savitra, 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 missing.

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While agreeing to give Pawar the money, Korde instructed him to work in his field and take the cattle for grazing, Savitra said in her complaint.

Kalu Pawar, the deceased; (right) Savitra, wife of the deceased

‘Korde threatened Pawar'

"After conducting Dattu's last rites, my husband started working in Korde's 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 harm," she added.

"The family is so poor that they could not buy wood for the funeral pyre, so they buried Kalu's body," Pandit's associate Sita Ghatal told mid-day.

Savitra, Pawar's wife, along with their (left) daughter; (right) daughters of Kalu Pawar. Pics/Hanif Patel

Pawar would work on Korde's field on and off, but had been working regularly in June and July, said Pandit. Ghatal said, "A few days before ending his life, his wife told me that Pawar fell ill and couldn't 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 incident."

Ghatal said Pawar belongs to the Katkari Samaj tribal community and they live in Ashe village of Mokhada taluka.

Activist Vivek Pandit spent a full month trying to get the accused booked. PIC/Hanif Patel

‘MLA pressurised police'

Pandit, chairman of a panel appointed by the state government to check the status of tribal schemes, told mid-day, "Korde 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 month-long follow-up, the accused has been booked, but no arrest has been made yet."

"The day Pawar hanged himself, Savitra had gone to work in Bhiwandi. Their daughters, Dhanashree, 16, and Durga, 12, had gone to their maternal uncle's house," said Ghatal. "The police said a detailed autopsy report is awaited, and the body was buried again at the same spot in Mokhada on August 5," she said.
Pandit said Korde is a sub-contractor and owns a sprawling bungalow in the village. "He (Korde) is also a tribal from Mahadev Koli Samaj but has been exploiting others in the area."

He added that Pawar's body was hanging for 12 hours. "Pawar 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 body," said Pandit.

The in-charge of Mokhada police station, Satish Gavai, said, "We 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 underway."

MLA Bhusara said, "The 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 field." He also refuted the allegations of pressurising the police. "I instead told police to thoroughly conduct an investigation before taking any action against Korde," Bhusara said.