Varsha Sabhnani

New York couple Varsha Mahender Sabhnani, 46, and her husband Mahender Murlidhar Sabhnani, 51, imprisoned two Indonesian women, identified only as Nona and Samirah, in 2002 and kept them as slaves. This has been against the law in New York for a very long time so they're both going to jail, specifically on charges of forced labour, peonage, harbouring aliens, document servitude and conspiracy. (Peonage is a form of bonded labor whereby loans are paid off with labor instead of currency or goods.) The Indian-born couple are also said to have beat the women with brooms, umbrellas and slashed them with knives. They reportedly ... Read Full Story

Varsha Sabhnani A woman in New York, Varsha Sabhnani, has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for keeping two modern day slaves in her home and abusing them. They were harassed, terrorized and assaulted, until one made an escape to a local store, where an employee called the police. NY millionaire gets prison for enslaving workers CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) — A millionaire who inflicted years of abuse on two Indonesian housekeepers held as virtual slaves in her Long Island mansion was sentenced Thursday to 11 years in prison. Varsha Sabhnani, 46, was convicted with her husband in December on a 12-count federal ... Read Full Story

  One domestic servant, identified only as Enung, had a mat on the floor instead of a bed, prosecutors say. Abeyasekere in Jakarta: A History (1987) notes the population count of Batavia in 1673 as: Netherlanders 2,024 Eurasians 726 Chinese 2,747 Mardijkers 5,262 Moors and Javanese 1,339 Malayans 611 Balinese 981 Slaves 13,278 Total Population 27,068 It IS hard to believe that Jakarta only had a population of 27,068 people at one time but so it was. The Dutch, it seems, knew how to build a city. Nearly half the population of the city at this time were slaves. Abeyasekere notes that, “Slaves stood ... Read Full Story

CENTRAL ISLIP, New York (AP) — A millionaire who inflicted years of abuse on two Indonesian housekeepers held as virtual slaves in her Long Island mansion was sentenced Thursday to 11 years in prison. Varsha Sabhnani, 46, was convicted on a 12-count federal indictment. Varsha Sabhnani, 46, was convicted with her husband in December on a 12-count federal indictment that included forced labor, conspiracy, involuntary servitude and harboring aliens. The trial provided a glimpse into a growing U.S. problem of domestic workers exploited in slave-like conditions. The victims testified that they were beaten with brooms and umbrellas, slashed with knives, and forced to climb ... Read Full Story

Even though Knowliz is a technology oriented blog, but I couldn't resist blogging about this news because it involves Indians. Recently a case has been highlighted where a New York based millionaire "Varsha Sabhnani" has been sentenced 11 years in prison for torturing and treating two Indonesian women as slaves. The two women were treated less than human, forced to eat red hot chili powder, take ice-chilled showers and climb stairs as punishment. Varsha Sabhnani and her husband "Mahender Sabhnani" were convicted of confsicating the two women's passport. "Indian-born Varsha Sabhnani and her husband, Mahender Sabhnani, were convicted of forced labor, peonage, harboring aliens, ... Read Full Story