Ludhiana Brick Kiln Horror: Bonded Labourers Sold and Assaulted

Ludhiana Brick Kilns: A Hellhole for Bonded Labourers

Disturbing visuals have emerged from Ludhiana, Punjab, where bonded labourers were brutally assaulted at a brick kiln on 16 May 2025. Among the victims was a pregnant woman who was allegedly beaten on her stomach. A total of fifteen bonded labourers, including women and children from Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh, were subjected to physical violence that has shocked human rights activists and exposed the stark reality of Punjab’s brick kiln industry.

Lured with Advance, Then Trapped in a Vicious Cycle

Amit Kumar, one of the victims, described how he initially agreed to work after receiving a ₹30,000 advance through a middleman named Sundar. “We are from Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh. Five of our family members were given a total of about 30000 rupees as advance and taken to a brick kiln in Rupnagar in Punjab. We worked at this kiln from October 2024 to March 2025,” Amit told The Probe. “But the soil there was bad, and I said we couldn’t work like this as we were unable to make bricks. The owner said, ‘Repay the debt and leave.’ I kept working till March but couldn’t make ends meet.”

Amit recounted how he was then directed to another brick kiln in Ludhiana after being promised new work. “The new kiln owner came in a car, and bought us from the Rupnagar brick kiln owner. We didn’t receive any money — they just transferred us like cattle.”

‘We Were Sold Like Cattle’

The more chilling part of Amit’s story lies in what happened next.

“All fifteen of us were sold to a brick kiln owner Jasmeet Randhawa in Ludhiana,” he alleged. “We didn’t receive any payment. Our belongings were loaded into a vehicle, and we were taken to this new place without explanation. That’s when we realised — we were not employees anymore. We were property.”

Amit explained that once they reached the brick kiln, the workers were forced into unpaid labour. “We were made to work without wages. That’s how we knew we had been sold.”

"The Owner Bought You. You Have Been Sold to Him"

At first, the new kiln owner maintained a façade of normalcy. But once the labourers began demanding their dues, the situation escalated.

“He made us do all kinds of work, not just brick-making,” said Amit. “There was no money, not even food. We were borrowing from relatives just to survive.”

The labourers tried to maintain a diary to document the work they did — their only proof — but that was torn apart by the owner. “He said he would give us another diary, but never did. He kept making us work.”

When the workers persisted, the owner reportedly deflected responsibility. “He told us to speak to Rakesh, who had connected us. But Rakesh said, ‘The owner bought you. You have been sold to him. Now it’s between you and him.’”

Brutal Assaults: 'Even Children and a Pregnant Woman Were Not Spared'

When they continued to press for their wages, things turned violent.

“They brought goons to the kiln and started beating us one by one,” Amit revealed. “Even my daughters were dragged out of our makeshift homes and beaten. A pregnant woman in our group was assaulted on her stomach.”

One of the labourers suffered head injuries, and when the workers tried to call an ambulance, it got worse. “We made the injured pregnant woman sit inside the ambulance, but they pulled out her husband from it and thrashed him too,” said Amit.

The two families — comprising 15 members in total — allege that the entire group was subjected to bonded labour and physical assault.

“Three people suffered serious injuries,” Amit said. “One man needed ten stitches to his head. Another’s hand was broken. A third has been left struggling to breathe after sustaining chest injuries. And yet, the police have taken no action. The administration hasn’t helped us at all.”

Daughter Molested During Chaos

The horror extended far beyond physical assault. Amit's own children — a 12-year-old son and an 8-year-old daughter — were also made to work at the kiln for long hours without pay. During the chaos that unfolded at the site in Ludhiana, Amit says his younger daughter hid under a cot to avoid the violence. His elder daughter, however, was not so lucky.

“They molested her,” Amit said, breaking into tears. “Her clothes were torn… I couldn’t bear to see it.” He alleged that another young woman — about 18 or 19 years old — who was his daughter’s sister-in-law, was also molested during the attack.

No Wages, No Freedom: Sold from One Kiln to Another

Nirmal Gorana, Convenor of the National Campaign Committee for Eradication of Bonded Labour, said the visuals recorded by the labourers speak for themselves.

“In the video, you can clearly see men armed with wooden sticks and bricks attacking the labourers,” said Gorana. “Even a spade was thrown at them. A pregnant woman was injured. Children were also assaulted. It was only after some of them managed to reach the hospital that the full extent of the assault came to light.”

He raised an important question: Why were the brick kiln owners so desperate to stop the labourers from leaving?

According to Gorana, the answer may lie in the fact that the workers were held in complete bondage. “When the ambulance was called, the gate was locked to stop them. The labourers had to break open the lock to save the pregnant woman. That moment unravelled the whole truth.”

Despite the disturbing nature of these revelations, no action has yet been taken by the Ludhiana administration against either of the kiln owners. Activists and survivors continue to demand justice and a complete investigation into the growing abuse of labourers across Punjab.

A Law on Paper: Broken Promises of Protection

India outlawed bonded labour nearly five decades ago through the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, promising freedom, cancellation of debt, and rehabilitation for those trapped in forced labour. But for the 15 bonded labourers currently stranded in Ludhiana, this law remains a distant ideal, not a lived reality.

“These workers were trafficked from Uttar Pradesh to Punjab and passed around like goods between brick kilns,” said Gorana. “They were brutally beaten when they demanded their wages, and their stories expose how hollow our laws truly are.”

He raised critical questions: “How does a Dalit family from Uttar Pradesh end up in a brick kiln in Punjab? Under the Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act, 1979, were the agents or contractors even authorised to transport them? Did they have valid licences?” Gorana argued that the process of trafficking begins the moment someone—unlicensed and unauthorised—offers an advance to a desperate labourer, trapping them in a cycle of exploitation.

Bought and Beaten: A Marketplace of Human Lives

The atrocities committed against these bonded labourers are violations of several laws—not just the 1976 Bonded Labour Abolition Act. They include breaches of the Child Labour Act, provisions of human trafficking under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and criminal charges of assault and intimidation.

“The Ludhiana brick kiln owner paid ₹34,800 to buy Amit’s family from a kiln in Rupnagar,” Gorana revealed. “In addition to that, he got four to five more workers—free of charge. Pregnant women, minor children, everyone bundled into this so-called transaction. This way the other 10 labourers were also bought. Imagine the owner's glee—when he got 15 people to just work for him for free.”

According to Gorana, such transactions are commonplace. “Go to any brick kiln, especially before the brick-making season begins, and you will see agents openly negotiating for human lives,” he said. “This is not happening in the shadows—it is out in the open. Yet, the administration looks the other way.”

"Administration Told us to Return to Abusers"

In a further insult to justice, when the assaulted labourers approached the Deputy Commissioner of Ludhiana, they were directed to meet the Sub-Divisional Magistrate. But what followed was deeply humiliating: the workers told The Probe that the SDM reportedly told them they had to return to the same kiln where they were beaten up—only in that location would their statements be recorded. 

“The labourers waited outside that brick kiln all evening,” said Gorana. “But no one from the administration came. What kind of justice system asks victims to return to their abusers just to get heard?”

Gorana also criticised both state governments. “Why is Uttar Pradesh silent on the trafficking of its citizens?” he asked. “The Aam Aadmi Party, which governs Punjab, must answer for the daily exploitation happening in its cities. And the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, which never misses a chance to target AAP—why is it mute when it comes to protecting its own labourers from such slavery?”

When The Probe contacted Ludhiana’s Deputy Commissioner Himanshu Jain, he promised to follow up after consulting the SDM. But despite repeated attempts, he failed to respond. Meanwhile, the 15 labourers remain in Punjab—their belongings confiscated, their wages unpaid, their dignity violated.

They have nowhere to go. With their freedom stolen and their pleas ignored, they now wait—broken and desperate—for a way to return home to Uttar Pradesh.

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