Chukri System

The Chukri system was a way of life in parts of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh that lasted for hundreds of years. It was a system of debt bondage where poor families would have to pay back loans by doing hard work for landowners or businesses. In exchange for the loan, families would have to give a son or daughter to the lender, and then the lender would keep them and make them work until the debt was paid off. The lenders would also keep the wages of the children, so the family would only have their freedom again when the debt was paid off. The system was cruel because the children worked long hours in dangerous conditions and families had very little control over the terms of repayment. The Chukri system was eventually outlawed in a number of countries, but it still exists in some areas today.