Sick: 10 arrested in east China over brick kiln slavery (these slaves are handicapped)

BEIJING (AP) — Police in eastern China have arrested 10 men for allegedly enslaving mentally handicapped people who were forced to work at brick kilns and endure beatings, an officer said Friday.

A total of 32 people were freed in an April 28 raid on the kilns located on the outskirts of the city of Jieshou in Anhui province, the police officer said, confirming a report by the official Xinhua News Agency.

The victims were all mentally handicapped people between the ages of 25 and 45, said the officer, who declined to give her name as is common with Chinese officials.

The boss of the operation told police he bought the laborers from a taxi driver in neighboring Shandong province who had picked them up off the street, the officer said. The victims were forced to work up to 10 hours per day with no pay and beaten if they refused.

Investigations were continuing to uncover more evidence about trafficking links, the officer said.

Hundreds of brick kiln slaves, many of them handicapped, were freed in raids in 2007 in northern China.