Prem Bhargav, who was abducted when 16-years-old, returned to his home in Rajasthan as a 44-year-old man on Thursday, 28-years after he was kidnapped and taken to jungles in Assam to work as a bonded labourer.
Prem Bhargav’s story could easily be the plot for a Bollywood blockbuster from the 80s, a resident of Hamirpura area in Barmer city, 16-year old Prem was repairing a fault in a truck, when knocked out by a blow to his head a lifetime ago, he woke up to find himself surrounded by tribals in an Assam jungle.
Misfortune struck Prem early in his life as he lost his father when he was only six years old and his mother died when he was 14, forcing him to take up a cleaner’s job on a truck owned by a relative. He was repairing the truck in Nagaur district, when someone attacked him from behind.
Prem says he didn’t understand the language spoken by the tribals, who surrounded him, when he woke up and initially didn’t realize that he had been kidnapped and brought to Assam, until he met a man from Gujarat, who had been kidnapped too.
Prem said he and the other abductees were tortured by the tribals and some other men and forced to work as bonded labor in tea gardens surrounded by thick forests.
{{/usCountry}}Prem said he and the other abductees were tortured by the tribals and some other men and forced to work as bonded labor in tea gardens surrounded by thick forests.
{{/usCountry}}“Before taking us to the tea gardens they would cover our eyes. We were not given enough clothes to wear and covered our body with leaves. Boiled rice was our meal twice a day,” said Prem, adding that he and others were made to work from early morning to late evening, and punished if they came up short.
He said efforts to flee by fellow abductees had failed in the past since they didn’t know the escape routes and their captors kept them under tight watch.
Prem said he and some others luckily escaped earlier this year, after a fire broke out in the jungle where they were working.
“We don’t know for how many days we walked through the jungle before we saw a road,” said Prem, adding that his captors followed them and killed three of his colleagues, who were also escaping.
“Nobody we tried to stop, responded, we finally lay down on the road following which a truck driven by a Punjabi stopped and gave us a lift to Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh,” said Prem.
Prem says he and his friends worked in Jhanshi for about four months before requesting leave to go home before Diwali. Their employer gave them some money and arranged train tickets for his journey till Jodhpur in Rajasthan.
“After reaching Jodhpur I took a bus and reached Barmer,” Prem added.
Prem said he had to ask around for directions to his home, which he couldn’t locate after 28-long years. His family couldn’t recognise him initially, but burst with joy when he recounted days spent with them as a child and a teenager.
Prem’s uncle Dungra Ram says Prem’s return to the family is the real Diwali. “We celebrate Diwali because lord Ram returned home after 14 years. But this Diwali, lord Ram’s special blessings brought my nephew home after 28 years, it is like my Ram has come home,” said Dungra Ram.