Hardoi Tragedy: Trafficked Teen Killed, Family Forced to Flee

Hardoi Tragedy: Migrant Family Loses Two Children to Bonded Labour Exploitation

“My grandson was just 15 years old. They ran a tractor trolley over him and killed him in the brick kiln. Now the police, the labour department, the brick kiln owner, and the contractor have all threatened us and told us to run back to our village in Bihar,” said Vijay Manjhi, the grandfather of Sunny, a 15-year-old boy whose life was tragically cut short. 

Sunny, was run over by a tractor trolley at Amar Brick Kiln in Atrauli, Hardoi, Uttar Pradesh, on May 4, 2025. The incident, shrouded in allegations of a cover-up, exposes the grim reality of bonded labour and child exploitation in Hardoi’s brick kilns.

The Manjhi family’s anguish is not new. Just months earlier, they lost another child at Amrit Brick Kiln, also in Atrauli, Hardoi. In a span of eight months, this family of migrant labourers, trafficked from Gaya, Bihar, to work in two brick kilns in Uttar Pradesh, was turned into bonded labourers. Forced to toil under brutal conditions, they endured the unimaginable loss of two minor children within the premises of these kilns where systemic exploitation thrives unchecked.

Trafficked from Bihar to Uttar Pradesh

Vijay Manjhi has two sons, Nagender and Pancham, who, along with their families, were lured from their village, Saraswati Vihar in Gaya, Bihar, by a contractor named Santhosh Kumar. Promised wages and a better life, they were given advances ranging from ₹20,000 to ₹30,000 and transported to Hardoi, Uttar Pradesh. There, they were forced to work in Amrit Brick Kiln initially. However, once they reached the kiln, they realised there was no escape. The families were not paid any wages for their hard labour and they were subjected to exploitative work conditions. 

The family’s ordeal began in September 2024 at Amrit Brick Kiln, where they worked for nearly six months. During this period, tragedy struck when Pancham’s four-year-old son fell into a pit within the kiln premises and died. In this case, too, there was a cover-up. The police did not act, the brick kiln owner was not made to account, the traffickers were not arrested either. 

Devastated, the family sought to return to Bihar, but the contractor and kiln owner refused to let them leave. Instead, they were relocated to Amar Brick Kiln in Hardoi, where, on May 4, 2025, just a day after their arrival, Sunny was killed when a tractor trolley ran over him while he slept.

A Child’s Death and a Cover-Up

Nirmal Gorana, Convenor of the National Campaign Committee for Eradication of Bonded Labour (NCCEBL), recounted the chilling details: “On May 4, 2025, we got a call from Amar Brick Kiln which said that a 15-year-old child was run over by a tractor trolley. We initially thought it was a road accident. So, we said, please go to the hospital and inform the police. But they said the police actually got a white cloth and packed the child’s dead body. That’s when we were taken aback. They also sent us pictures. We did a video call with the labourers and found that the women were crying, and the boy’s dead body was packed and lying on the floor. When we asked who packed the dead body so professionally when they did not even go to the hospital or get the post-mortem done, the family said the police did it. When we spoke to the police, they denied.”

The tractor trolley driver responsible for Sunny’s death remains unidentified, deepening suspicions of a cover-up. Vijay Manjhi, Sunny’s grandfather who witnessed this incident, confronted the owner of Amar Brick Kiln, only to be told the owner had no knowledge of the driver’s identity. 

“How is it possible that the tractor trolley driver was driving inside the brick kiln, and the owner doesn’t know who he is?” Gorana questioned. The refusal to identify the driver, coupled with the allegations of the police’s handling of the body, points to a concerted effort to obscure the truth behind Sunny’s untimely death. 

Police Inaction and Forced Signatures

Gorana’s organisation escalated the matter, but the response from authorities in Hardoi was evasive. “We called the SHO and complained. The police initially did not even want to talk about the tractor trolley driver or the incident. Then we complained to the District Magistrate and other officials; only after that did the police even register an FIR. If you look at the FIR, you will realise that the police is treating this case as a mere accident,” Gorana stated. 

“Sunny was a child bonded labourer who was trafficked from Bihar and who was forced to work as a child bonded labourer in two brick kilns in Uttar Pradesh. He lost his life within the premises of the brick kiln. The police neither acted against the brick kiln owner or the driver of the tractor trolley. Instead, the entire administration tried to collude with the perpetrators and they turned against this poor family that was begging and pleading to give them justice,” Gorana added.

After pressure from the NCCEBL, Sunny’s body was taken for a post-mortem, and an FIR was filed. Yet, no investigation followed, and no action was taken against the brick kiln owner or the driver. 

Gorana revealed a disturbing detail: “The family told us that the police made them sign documents initially by stating they would get compensation of ₹5 lakhs and justice if they signed, but actually, the documents stated the family had no complaint and this was just an accident. The labour officer also forcibly took thumb impressions of the family. This means they wanted to save the brick kiln owner. What was written in that statement, no one knows. The labourers definitely don’t know.” The family, under immense pressure, fled back to Bihar, their pursuit of justice thwarted in Hardoi.

A Grandfather’s Grief

Vijay Manjhi, speaking to The Probe as the family traveled back to Bihar, recounted their exploitation: “We were trafficked by contractors Santhosh and Dharmender. They made us work in Amrit Brick Kiln. They gave us an advance of ₹30,000 and made us work for free. We worked there for six months, but they did not give us any money. I lost one of my grandsons there inside the brick kiln. He fell into a pit and died. We tried to complain then and there but our voices were silenced. Then we decided to go back to our village in Gaya, but they put us in bondage. They just told us that we are bonded labourers now and we are not allowed to leave. They trafficked us to another nearby brick kiln - Amar Brick Kiln.”

Manjhi explained: “The day after arriving at Amar Brick Kiln on May 4, it was a very hot day. The rest of the family was working, but my grandson and I decided to rest for a few minutes. We drank some water, spread mats on the floor, and lay down. Sunny fell asleep. Suddenly, I heard a loud noise, and then I realised a tractor trolley had crushed my grandson. The driver escaped. The brick kiln owner, the police, and the contractor pressured us to do the last rites and go back to Bihar. It was only after the NGO intervened that the postmortem happened and the police registered a cosmetic FIR. But soon we were threatened again, and out of fear, we had to run away from Hardoi.”

Rinku Devi, Sunny’s mother, shared her heartbreak: “We were trafficked to two brick kilns. We lost a child from our family in Amrit Brick Kiln. Again, in Amar Brick Kiln, I lost my son. My son worked in Amrit Brick Kiln for almost six months, and then we came to this new brick kiln. They killed my son. The police didn’t help us at all. We lost everything. I need justice for my boy.”

Police Deflection

The Probe reached out to the SHO of Atrauli police station in Hardoi but he offered a dismissive response: “We can confirm that the boy Sunny passed away. It was an accidental death, and we have registered an FIR in the case. It was a brick kiln. The family was staying there along with their children. They were sleeping under the shade of a tree in front of a tractor trolley. An accident happened. We are investigating the matter. If any labour-related violations are there, it is the labour department’s job to look into the matter.” The police flatly refused to answer any more questions on Sunny’s death and the allegations of cover-up. 

Silence from the District Magistrate

Mangla Prasad Singh, the District Magistrate of Hardoi, refused to comment when approached about the incident. The DM stated that he could not comment without details of the case, but Nirmal Gorana told us that the DM was well aware of the developments, as both the deceased’s family and the NGO had approached him for further action in the matter.

A Systemic Failure

The deaths of Sunny and his cousin violate the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, which prohibits bonded labour and mandates rehabilitation for victims, and the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, which amongst other things also bans the employment of children in hazardous occupations like brick kilns. The FIR, however, trivialises the incident as a mere accident, failing to hold the tractor trolley driver or the brick kiln owner accountable. The labour department, allegedly complicit in the cover-up, has taken no action against the perpetrators.

The stories of Sunny and his cousin are cases of child labour where trafficked minors were forced into bonded labour and lost their lives as they and their families were engaged in forced labour under hazardous and exploitative conditions, yet no meaningful action has been taken. There are grave allegations that the system—police, labour officials, and kiln owners—has colluded to protect the perpetrators, while justice has been denied to the Manjhi family and the perpetrators have gone scot-free.

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