ViolaLee
12-21-2007, 07:25 PM
Final Verdict: No Bail for Slave-Holder Woman
By Dee Chisamera
http://www.efluxmedia.com/content/news/news_12093.jpg
Judge Arthur D. Spatt from the Federal District Court in New York revoked on Thursday the bail for millionaire Varsha Sabhnani, wife of Indian born millionaire Mahender Sabhnani.
The woman had been convicted on Monday for torture, involuntary servitude, conspiracy and harboring illegal residents. Her husband remained free until both of them will be given a sentence on March 28, on a $4.5 million bail.
The millionaire couple, both U.S. citizens, with multimillion-dollar perfume business, was convicted of 12 charges and face up to 40 years in prison. The Monday verdict came as a shock for the 45-year-old woman, who had to be hospitalized afterwards.
According to the prosecutors, the couple brought two Indonesian women to the United States and promised them $200 a month for housekeeping. But things turned into a “modern day slavery”, how the prosecutors called it, and the two women, identified as Samirah, age 51, and Enung, age 47, testified against the Sabhnanis.
In their testimonies, the Indonesian women said they were forced by the two to work over 18 hours a day, with little food or money, and they were tortured in unimaginable ways: scalded with hot water, forced to eat hot chili peppers and take freezing cold showers.
Defense lawyers for the Sabhnanis tried to argue that the women were lying and were delusional, but that was less likely to impress the judge. Samirah had been found wondering the streets dressed in nothing but a pair of pants and a towel, after managing to escape the Muttontown residence of the multimillionaire couple.
After telling all about the atrocities she had been submitted to by Varsha Sabhnani, the authorities started their search for Enung, who was found hiding in a closet at the Sabhnani residence.
Defense lawyers announced they planned to appeal to the court’s decision.
http://www.efluxmedia.com/news_Final_Verdict_No_Bail_for_Slave_Holder_Woman_ 12093.html
She looks like a witch doesn't she?
Meanwhile, the Sabhnanis' two victims, Samirah and Enung, may be granted US citizenship.
Currently, the two women are being looked after by Catholic charities, which are under contract with the Justice Department to look after victims of human trafficking.
They are likely to get a special visa, which lets victims of such abuse stay in the country for four years at the end of which they get green cards.
Neither woman has any money and authorities are trying to calculate what the Sabhnanis owe them in back wages. That could be a big sum even if it is calculated on the basis of the minimum wage.
http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14579370
I hope they can fashion a normal life here in the USA after this ordeal.
By Dee Chisamera
http://www.efluxmedia.com/content/news/news_12093.jpg
Judge Arthur D. Spatt from the Federal District Court in New York revoked on Thursday the bail for millionaire Varsha Sabhnani, wife of Indian born millionaire Mahender Sabhnani.
The woman had been convicted on Monday for torture, involuntary servitude, conspiracy and harboring illegal residents. Her husband remained free until both of them will be given a sentence on March 28, on a $4.5 million bail.
The millionaire couple, both U.S. citizens, with multimillion-dollar perfume business, was convicted of 12 charges and face up to 40 years in prison. The Monday verdict came as a shock for the 45-year-old woman, who had to be hospitalized afterwards.
According to the prosecutors, the couple brought two Indonesian women to the United States and promised them $200 a month for housekeeping. But things turned into a “modern day slavery”, how the prosecutors called it, and the two women, identified as Samirah, age 51, and Enung, age 47, testified against the Sabhnanis.
In their testimonies, the Indonesian women said they were forced by the two to work over 18 hours a day, with little food or money, and they were tortured in unimaginable ways: scalded with hot water, forced to eat hot chili peppers and take freezing cold showers.
Defense lawyers for the Sabhnanis tried to argue that the women were lying and were delusional, but that was less likely to impress the judge. Samirah had been found wondering the streets dressed in nothing but a pair of pants and a towel, after managing to escape the Muttontown residence of the multimillionaire couple.
After telling all about the atrocities she had been submitted to by Varsha Sabhnani, the authorities started their search for Enung, who was found hiding in a closet at the Sabhnani residence.
Defense lawyers announced they planned to appeal to the court’s decision.
http://www.efluxmedia.com/news_Final_Verdict_No_Bail_for_Slave_Holder_Woman_ 12093.html
She looks like a witch doesn't she?
Meanwhile, the Sabhnanis' two victims, Samirah and Enung, may be granted US citizenship.
Currently, the two women are being looked after by Catholic charities, which are under contract with the Justice Department to look after victims of human trafficking.
They are likely to get a special visa, which lets victims of such abuse stay in the country for four years at the end of which they get green cards.
Neither woman has any money and authorities are trying to calculate what the Sabhnanis owe them in back wages. That could be a big sum even if it is calculated on the basis of the minimum wage.
http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14579370
I hope they can fashion a normal life here in the USA after this ordeal.