They had left their homes in search of employment. But in a cruel twist of fate, within just a few days, that journey turned into a horrifying ordeal. Serious allegations have emerged regarding seven youths from Assam who were forced to endure starvation, inhuman beatings, and death threats at a construction site in Arunachal Pradesh. However, last Monday, two organisations from the Mising community carried out a rescue operation and brought them back safely.
The rescued youths are residents of Sadiya subdivision in Assam and all belong to the Mising community. They had gone to Arunachal Pradesh to work in construction.
The Sadiya District Committee of the Takam Mising Porin Kebang (TMPK) and members of the Mising Mimak Kebang (MMK) jointly conducted the rescue operation. The two organisations said they took the step based on complaints from the victims’ families and urgent distress messages sent from the worksite.
According to allegations, a man named Nigam Doley took them to Arunachal with the assurance of arranging jobs. Later, they were employed under a contractor at a culvert construction site linked to the Lower Dibang Hydropower Project in Roing.
The TMPK stated that these youths from the Amarpur area of Sadiya were lured there by local middlemen with promises of work. But from the moment they arrived, they faced extremely inhuman conditions.
One of the rescued victims said they were not given any food for two consecutive days. Unable to bear the hunger, they tried to flee home but were caught midway by some people and forcibly taken back to the worksite. After that, they were brutally beaten and threatened with death by showing them a machete.
The labourer claimed they were forced to work continuously day and night. Whenever they tried to leave, the contractor’s men issued severe threats. As the situation became completely unbearable, the entire matter was brought to the notice of Mising organisations through their families. Following this, the rescue operation was carried out and all seven youths were safely brought back home.
