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BADIN, Dec 7: At least 16 bonded Haris, including three women and 10 children, were rescued by the police from the private jail of two landlords, Choudhry Tariq Arain and Choudhry Nisar Ali, in the Choudhry Iqbal village, near Tando Ghulam Ali, Matli Taluka, on Saturday.
The names of some of the liberated Haris were ascertained as Sawan, Jamoon, Sodhi, Aammy and Lachhmi.
When this correspondent contacted the investigating officer, ASI Dur Mohammad Khoso, he said the raid was conducted by the Tando Ghulam Ali police, and added that both the landlords were not present in their homes.
He said that the Haris were working in the fields from where they were rescued and taken to the police station, and added that they would be produced before the court of the district and sessions judge, Badin, on Monday.
He said the action was taken on the directives of the director, Human Rights, and the district and sessions judge, Badin, on the application filed by a Hari, Ramoon Bheel.
A criminal case, on the complaint of Ramoon Bheel, has been lodged under sections 342, 344, 34 PPC with the Tando Ghulam Ali police against the above-mentioned landlords.
Ramoon Bheel stated that they had been working as Haris on the lands of the landlords for the last seven years, but the landlords were reluctant to settle their accounts.
He said that they were often subjected to unlawful compulsory labour without being paid any wages by the landlords.
He said that he managed to escape a month back when the landlords refused to settle their accounts and put them in unlawful confinement.
He said he submitted an application before the director, Human Rights, and the district and sessions judge, Badin, but the landlords failed to appear before the court.
Finally, the sessions judge had directed the police to register an FIR against the landlords if the complainant wished to do so.
GIRL DIES OF PAIN: A four-year-old girl, Jannat, died of stomach pain on Friday night outside the Taluka hospital, Shaheed Fazil Rahu, as the gate was locked and the guard on duty said that no doctor was available.
Some residents of Shaheed Fazil Rahu town, Tharo, Bachu and Sharif Khore took a minor girl, Jannat, to the Taluka hospital on Friday night. She was suffering from severe stomach pain. The hospital gate was locked and the guard did not open it saying that the doctor on duty was not available. After some time the child died of severe pain.
The girl’s parents and villagers held a protest demonstration in front of the hospital on Saturday.
The protesters did not allow the hospital staff to open its main gate till an FIR was lodged against the doctors concerned.
MS: The medical superintendent of the hospital, Dr Mohammad Siddique Soomro, told journalists that the protesters were blaming the doctors for no fault of theirs.
He denied that any patient was brought to the hospital.
