Migrant labourers at the Thubarahalli camp in Bengaluru were allegedly assaulted by their landlord on Friday night and again on Sunday after they were unable to pay the rent.
A group of people around approach the Varthur Police Station. In the complaint, Chand Pasha, 35, one of the victims, stated the incident that took place with him, his flat-mate Yakub Sheikh, and the neighbours, including a pregnant lady who had come to their rescue, The Hindu reported.
Pasha, a native of West Bengal, was an employee in a car cleaning unit at Marathahalli for past as six years. He was sharing the room with Sheik for which they paid ₹4,000 as rent to the landowner, Manje Gowda, owner of 60 sheds on a plot of land that he leases, said the police.
Due to the ongoing lockdown, both the tenants have currently no work and were unable to pay their rent.
The Police informed that on Friday night, Manje Gowda, along with his associates, burst into the camp and scoured their premises, demanding the lease. Despite the tenant’s reasoning, the landlord beat them up and threatened to kill if they didn’t abandon the premises.
An FIR has been registered against Manje Gowda and his associate and deployed some officials for both of them, who are on run.
On the fifth day of the initial 21-Day lockdown to contain COVID-19, the Centre issued an order to seal some district and state borders, in view of stopping the community transmission progression. For further stopping any mass exodus of migrants, the Central government asked the states to ensure that these people are not asked for house rent or to vacate their homes for this period.
But there were several reports from across the country, where migrant workers, students were being asked to pay or to vacate their accommodation without prior notice.
