Man keeps family of five as bonded labourers, woman and baby die during childbirth

A 44-year-old woman and her newborn baby died while she was giving birth under a tarpaulin shade in Tamil Nadu’s Kancheepuram district earlier this week, The New Indian Express reported. Her family reportedly claimed that she was denied medical care and that they were forced to work under bonded labour-like conditions.

The woman has been identified as Thenmozhi. An FIR has been registered by the police on the basis of a complaint lodged by her husband, 45-year-old Anand. According to the police complaint, the couple, their 16-year-old son, 19-year-old daughter, and her husband had been working as woodcutters for a man named Arumugam, the news report says.

The family had purportedly been working for him for nearly six months. In his complaint, Anand said he and his family started working there to repay an amount of Rs 20,000 that he had received as advance.

He alleged that his family was kept as bonded labourers and Arumugam even thrashed him when he sought money to buy rice for his pregnant wife, per the report. Anand also claimed that he had sought Arumugam's permission a few weeks ago to take Thenmozhi to a hospital for a check-up.

Arumugam, however, told him they could go only after completing their work, the police complaint reportedly stated. The complainant also alleged that on one occasion he complained about his wife's stomach pain, but Arumugam told him to give her a painkiller instead.

Anand has claimed that while he and others left for work around 7 am on Tuesday, Thenmozhi stayed back due to her full-term pregnancy, the news putlet said in its report.

When he returned in the afternoon, he found her complaining of stomach pain. Anand said he returned to work at around 2 pm after applying castor oil to relieve his wife's pain.

Around half-an-hour later, he returned there and found Thenmozhi in severe labour pain. She purportedly lost consciousness soon after and stopped breathing.

Anand has claimed that he repeatedly tried to contact Arumugam, who eventually responded and summoned an ambulance. Though the ambulance reached the location in a few minutes, Thenmozhi had died by then, per the police complaint.

Sources cited by The New Indian Express said she had partially delivered the baby, which also died. The ambulance personnel declared her dead on the spot, the police complaint claimed.

Anand told the police that Arumugam later gave him Rs 2,000 and arranged the transportation of the body. The incident came surfaced after the complainant sought the help of villagers residing in the neighbouring area.

Subsequently, the police were informed. The body was then shifted to a government hospital for postmortem the same evening, according to Anand.

The police said the postmortem could not be performed till Wednesday as Thenmozhi's relatives refused to provide their consent until Arumugam was arrested.

The police have initiated a probe under Section 194 of the BNSS, with the investigation focusing on the circumstances surrounding the death, the news report says.

The allegations of bonded labour were referred to the sub collector. The decision to invoke relevant provisions will be taken based on the facts ascertained by labour department officials, a senior police official reportedly said.- EndsPublished By: mayukh Published On: Sep 11, 2026 13:15 IST