The police in Satyavedu, Tirupati district, arrested three people linked to the illegal detention and death of a 9-year-old tribal boy named Yanadi Venkateshu. At a press conference, Puttur DSP G Ravikumar shared the details of the case.
The accused are N Muthu (60), his wife M Dhanabhagyam (52), and their son M Rajasekhar (32), all from N Agraharam village in Satyavedu mandal. The boy’s mother, Ankamma, from Chavatapalem village in Gudur mandal, had been working as a laborer with her partner Prakash and their three children on a farm in Nellore district.
Muthu and Dhanabhagyam offered Ankamma’s family work for a monthly wage of Rs 10,000 and gave them Rs 15,000 upfront. The family worked for a year under tough conditions, doing farming tasks and herding ducks. Despite asking for higher pay, Muthu refused. After Ankamma’s husband died, she went back home for the funeral rites.
Muthu promised to clear a Rs 25,000 loan if the family kept working for him. But when the work became too hard, Ankamma tried to leave. Muthu demanded Rs 45,000 as repayment. Unable to gather the money right away, she left her son with Muthu, hoping to come back soon. The boy begged his mother to take him away from the hard labor. Their last conversation was on April 15. When Ankamma returned with the money, Muthu gave excuses: first saying the boy was sent away to work, then hospitalized, and later that he had run away.
For the next nine months, the boy was forced to do heavy work and often cried to go back to his mother. Ankamma kept asking for his release but was misled. Finally, on May 19, she went to the police and filed a complaint. The police quickly registered a case under several laws protecting workers and children. Muthu, Dhanabhagyam, and Rajasekhar were arrested.
Investigations showed Venkateshu fell seriously ill in early April and was taken to a hospital in Pudupaalem on April 11. He died the next day despite treatment. CCTV footage confirmed the timeline. Afraid of punishment, the accused allegedly buried the boy’s body in the Palar river with family help. The body was buried in Tamil Nadu’s Kancheepuram district, where Muthu’s in-laws live and where the boy had been working.
Authorities exhumed the body for an autopsy, supervised by local officials. All three accused are in custody. Sadly, this case is not unique. The Yanadi community has long suffered exploitation. The Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, bans advances, forced labor, and restricting workers’ freedom, but such abuses continue.
Just last month, another Yanadi couple revealed they had been trapped in bonded labor for over 15 years. Over the past year, around 50 Yanadi people have been freed from bonded labor in Andhra Pradesh and beyond. These abuses are common in jobs like duck rearing, brick kilns, and seafood processing.
Small-scale duck farmers often move their ducks around fields and water bodies to feed on natural food sources. Shaik Basheer from the ARD NGO says fixing individual cases isn’t enough, Andhra Pradesh needs a full action plan to protect vulnerable workers.
Organizations like Shed India have rescued children from similar situations. Two boys are currently getting medical and emotional care in shelter homes. Activists warn that without strong reforms and enforcement, these problems will continue. Venkatesh from the National Adivasi Solidarity Council, who is supporting Ankamma, said investigations are ongoing, and the postmortem report will help clarify how the boy died.
