Rihanna’s beauty brand ‘uses’ mica from Indian mines that hire child labour

International pop star Rihanna, who hit the headlines after tweeting support for farmers’ protests in India, has been accused of using mica from Indian mines, where child labourers are employed, in her cosmetics brand ‘Fenty Beauty’, The Print reported.

NGO Legal Rights Observatory moved the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) on Friday (February 5) with a complaint against the international singing sensation. NCPCR chairman Priyank Kanungo confirmed receiving the complaint.

The complaint read: “As per reports, US pop star Rihanna’s beauty product ‘Fenty Beauty’ uses blood mica from Jharkhand in which child labourers work in dire conditions. To ascertain that the mica is free of child labour, there are certificate agencies. But media reports say that Fenty Beauty don’t have supply chain clearance certification (SCCC) from either of the two.”

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The NGO sought action against ‘Fenty Beauty’ and its owners.

Responsible Mica Initiative (RMI), a global coalition for child labour free mica supply chain in India, told NCPCR that “the supply chain that provides mica to Fenty Beauty is not registered with them.” The NCPCR has not sent a notice to Rihanna so far.

The controversy kicked off on Tuesday when Rihanna tweeted to her more than 101 million followers: “Why aren’t we talking about this?!” She linked to a CNN news report about India blocking internet services at the protest sites.