Cannabalism suspected in India tea deaths

2 Jan 2013, 12:04 am   -   Source: AAP
The burnt out wreckage of a vehicle at a tea plantation where workers torched the home of their boss, killing both him and his wife, following a labour dispute in the northeastern Indian state of Assam, officials said. (FILE:AAP)

The burnt out wreckage of a vehicle at a tea plantation where workers torched the home of their boss, killing both him and his wife, following a labour dispute in the northeastern Indian state of Assam, officials said. (FILE:AAP)

Indian police believe tea plantation workers who bludgeoned their boss and his wife to death also ate parts of their bodies.

RELATED

Police in northeast India say they believe workers on a tea plantation who bludgeoned their boss and his wife to death also ate parts of their bodies.

A crowd of 1000 workers at the privately-owned MKB Tea Estate in the state of Assam surrounded the plantation owner's bungalow last week. A mob then set it on fire in violence blamed on festering labour unrest in the region.

"Our investigations say that at least five plantation workers ate the flesh of the tea planter and his wife after they were brutally killed," Numol Mahatao, deputy police chief of Tinsukia district, told reporters on Tuesday.

"We suspect that about 15 people were actually involved in the crime although there were some 1000 present there at the spot," the police official said. "We have identified all the masterminds and nine are in our custody so far."

Mahatao said the reports of cannibalism were based on a confession from one of the workers present during the attack.

Tea workers are notoriously badly paid and often housed in poor accommodation in remote areas. They have few protections from police and cannot take advantage of laws designed to guarantee them health care and fair working conditions, rights groups say.

The Indian Express newspaper said the violence was sparked by orders from the boss for 10 estate workers to vacate their quarters and by the detention of three employees by police over unspecified disputes.

"We are investigating the reasons that led to the attack. But whatever may be the reason, such acts of barbarism are unacceptable in this modern world," Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said on Tuesday.

Assam produces about 55 per cent of India's annual tea production, which stood at 988.32 million kilograms last year, and the state is home to more than 800 tea estates.

  • Follow us: 
  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Follow us on Youtube