Once in Russia, they were told to join the Russian Army. To motivate them, they were:
Offered Russian work visas, brides, and passports
Denied food and water when they refused.
Burned with heated wood and matchsticks, cut with knives, and other torture methods
Threated with knives and guns
Finally arrested for illegally entering the Russia.
I've heard other reports of people from India getting forced into fighting for Russia after fraudulent job offers, so it seems like this is becoming fairly widespread.
They have a centuries-long history of extremely brutal and downright psychopathic rule. You really need to read up on Russian history if you think that Putin is the reason things are the way they are.
Analysts of Russia differ about many things, but the most important difference concerns their interpretation of the roots of Russia’s ongoing aggression. One side argues that Russian history and political culture are to blame — or, to put it more simply, uniquely Russian characteristics are the cause of Russian aggression. The other side argues that the causes are not uniquely Russian, but typical of the behavior of certain kinds of states, regimes, societies and leaders.
Unsurprisingly, historians of Russia and Ukraine tend to fall into the first camp
It is really an ongoing low. There have been reports of this with nepalese "joining" the Russian military for a year now. Some may have been voluntary but many took jobs as private support staff only to be sent to the front.