New York: A jury on Monday convicted a millionaire couple of enslaving two Indonesian women they brought to their New York mansion to work as housekeepers, subjecting them to repeated psychological and physical abuse and forcing them to work 18 hours or more a day.
Indian-born Mahender Murlidhar Sabhnani, 51, and his wife, Indonesian-born Varsha Mahender Sabhnani, 45, were each convicted of all charges in a 12-count federal indictment that included forced labor, conspiracy, involuntary servitude and harboring aliens. One of the couple's daughters fainted in the front row as the verdict was read, prompting the judge to clear the courtroom while medical personnel attended to her.
The Sabhnanis, who have four children and operate a worldwide perfume business out of their home, could face up to 40 years in prison, although attorneys predicted the punishment would be considerably less.
Defense attorney Jeffrey Hoffman said he would appeal. ''Apparently, the jury was taken by the histrionics ...'' of the Indonesian women, he said.
Prosecutors called the allegations against the Sabhnanis a case of ''modern-day slavery.'' Assistant US Attorney Mark Lesko said in closing arguments that the poorly educated women came to the United States to work as housekeepers for $100 or $150 a month — all of which was sent to relatives back home.
He said they were subjected to ''punishment that escalated into a cruel form of torture'' that ended when one of the women fled.
Allegations of abuse included beatings with brooms and umbrellas, slashings with knives and being made to repeatedly climb stairs and take freezing showers as punishment for various misdeeds that included sleeping late or stealing food from trash bins because they were poorly fed. Both women, known only as Samirah and Enung, said they were forced to sleep on mats in the kitchen.
Samirah, the woman who fled the house in May, said she was forced to eat dozens of chili peppers, and then was forced to eat her own vomit when she failed to digest the peppers, prosecutors said.
''This did not happen in the 1800s,'' Lesko said. ''This happened in the 21st century.''
The Sabhnanis' defense attorneys contended the two women made up the story of abuse as a way of escaping the house for more lucrative opportunities. They argued the housekeepers practiced witchcraft and may have abused themselves as part of an Indonesian self-mutilation ritual. They also said the couple went on frequent vacations that would have given the two women ample opportunity to flee.
Although Varsha Sabhnani was identified as the primary culprit in inflicting punishment, Lesko said Mahender Sabhnani was charged with the same crimes, including conspiracy, because he allowed the conduct to take place in his home.
''Ask yourself who is worse,'' Lesko said. ''The twisted soul who tortures maids or the man of the house who lets it happen?''
The couple spent nearly three months in jail following their arrest before a judge approved a bail package that required the couple to post $4.5 million and pay an estimated $10,000 a day for round-the-clock security monitoring while they were kept under house arrest.
Prosecutors had argued the Sabhnanis were a flight risk.
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