Two minor tribal boys who had allegedly been "mortgaged" for merely Rs 30,000 by their parents of Khargone district, to shepherds of Rajashtan escaped from captivity and reached home here today, police said.
The two kids reached here after walking some 47 km, District Additional Superintendent of Police Mayank Jain said.
"We have arrested the main accused Bhura Gadriya, a shepherd from Rajasthan, while we are looking for Hemala Gadriya, who is the other accused in the case," he said.
Lala Singh Bhilala and his wife Manibai of Mohanpura village in MP's Khargone district "mortgaged" their two sons Beju (11) and Tisu (13) to shepherds in Rajastan, for money to buy an agricultural equipment worth Rs 30,000, the ASP said.
However, the two brothers who got tired of the inhumane treatment escaped from the clutches of the shepherds, who resided at Banapura in Hoshangabad district, which is some 47 km from Harda district headquarters, he said.
He said that the two brothers walked to the Harda railway station where one Sabir Khan spotted them in distress.
They narrated their ordeal to Khan who took them to a police station where a case was registered against the accused under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act. The case is being transferred to the Khargone district police, he said.
The shepherds had come down to graze their cattle in the district bordering MP from neighbouring Rajastan, he said.
