Asked for Salary, Got Tortured: Workers Given Electric Shocks, Nails Pulled
Bhilwara (The Uttar Hindu): A sensational case of inhuman cruelty and ransom has come to light against two cousins who had gone to Chhattisgarh in search of employment from Bhilwara district of Rajasthan. The victims allege that when they demanded their salary, they were ruthlessly beaten, their clothes were removed and they were given electric shocks, their nails were pulled out and they were released only after ransom was collected from their family members. Even after this incident, the accused came to Bhilwara and threatened them. Accusing the local police of not listening to their complaint, the victim youths met the Bhilwara SP on Thursday and appealed for justice.
The victims, cousins Mukesh and Vinod, had reached Korba city in Chhattisgarh on February 12. Through an acquaintance from the village, they met Chhotu Gurjar (resident of Bhairukheda, Shambhugarh) and Mukesh Sharma (resident of Chittorgarh). These people had lured the two brothers with the promise of getting them a job selling ice cream.
After working for about two months, when the two brothers asked for their wages, instead of giving them money, the employers locked them in a warehouse and started torturing them inhumanly.
On the night of April 14, all limits of cruelty were crossed. The victims allege that they were stripped and given electric shocks, their nails were pulled out with pliers and they were abused badly. The accused did not stop here, they made a video of the entire torture and sent it to the victims' families to create fear.
The accused falsely accused the two youths of theft and demanded a hefty ransom of Rs 30,000 in exchange for releasing them. To save their sons' lives, the family members, in fear and panic, transferred Rs 23,950 out of the demanded money to the account mentioned by the accused. Only after receiving the money, both the brothers were freed from torture and were released.
Even after this horrifying experience, the accused did not give up. On April 17, the main accused Chhotu Gurjar reached Bhilwara and stopped both the cousins at Rudrapur crossing of the village and beat them up again and threatened to kill them if they told anyone about this incident.
Shankarlal Meghvanshi, a relative of the victims, made serious allegations and said that when they went to Gulabpura police station to file a report, the police instead pressured them to compromise and threatened them. The mother of the victims said emotionally, "Can any mother see her son in such a condition? We want justice."
On Thursday, the victim's family met the Superintendent of Police (SP) of Bhilwara and submitted a written complaint to him regarding the entire incident. They have demanded strict legal action against the accused under serious sections like kidnapping, assault, inhuman torture, threatening and extortion
