Mahender Murlidhar Sabhnani - Articles - Zimbio

Slaveholder Gets 11-year Sentence

Fri, 28 Jun 2008 06:30:48 GMT

posted by SocProf

Here’s to people getting their comeuppance. Enslaving others is one of the most heinous crimes that I can think of. Via the BBC:

"A wealthy New York woman has been sentenced to 11 years in jail for keeping two Indonesian women as slaves. Varsha Mahender Sabhnani, 46, and her husband Mahender Murlidhar Sabhnani, 51, kept them as slaves and abused them physically and psychologically. The couple had been found guilty on 12 charges in December, including involuntary servitude, harbouring aliens and forced labour.

Mr Sabhnani is to be sentenced later on Friday and may get a shorter term.

In addition to prison, his Indian-born wife was fined $25,000 (£12,600).

"I just want to say that I love my children very much," she told the federal court in Central Islip, on New York state’s Long Island, as two of her grown children looked on.

"I was brought to this earth to help people who are in need."

Her husband wept as his wife’s sentence was announced."

Aww, that is just so sad… until one discovers what they actually did to the women they brought in as housekeepers:

"The wealthy couple, who run a perfume business and have four children, had brought the women to their large house to work as housekeepers, and forced them to work up to 18 hours a day. The couple were arrested after one of the women was found wandering the streets dressed in only trousers and a towel. (…)

[Prosecutors] described how the two Indonesian women had been punished for misbehaviour such as sleeping late and stealing food from the dustbin to supplement their meagre meals.

The women said they had been beaten with brooms and umbrellas, slashed with knives, made to take freezing showers and climb stairs repeatedly.

One said she had been forced to eat several hot chillies and then her own vomit.

US District Judge Arthur Spatt called the testimony "eye-opening, to say the least - that things like that go on in our country".

He postponed a decision on the amount of back pay owed to the two women. Prosecutors have suggested they were due more than $1.1m.

Lawyers for the accused had argued that the housekeepers practised witchcraft and may have abused themselves."

Oh sure. Please, give me a break. Actually, this description of slavery in the housekeeping business is fairly typical. I guess slaveholders lack imagination when it comes to mistreating their slaves. Anyone familiar with Kevin Bales’s books and work would recognize all the "symptoms" of this situation. It is clearly modern slavery.

The worst part of it is that these people are wealthy. They could perfectly afford to pay market wages for housekeepers and nannies and whatever other services they need. Of course, that would mean having to treat their employees according to the labor codes of this country… which I guess is an inconvenience, better to have slaves.

As always, shameless plug to Free The Slaves. And as Kevin Bales himself stated in the comments of a previous post:

"One of the interesting things about people in slavery is how much they really want a chance to work for themselves and, though it may sound strange to people in the rich North, to become consumers. It is just that for them consumption means three meals a day instead of one, school for their kids, and a chance to live without constant fear. Slavery is a horrible violation of human rights, but once people are out of slavery they really need a chance to build up that minimum of income for a decent life, a chance to learn, and a chance to become citizens. Remarkably the average cost of helping someone in slavery to achieve that level of human dignity is only about $400 - or about $11 billion to end slavery forever - a tiny tiny fraction of the wealth you describe in your post.

For more about how we will end slavery and how much it will cost, see my book Ending Slavery: How We Free Today’s Slaves. "

Let me add that all proceeds go to helping slaves.

Also check out the videos at Free The Slaves’s Youtube Channel.

Authored by SocProf. Hosted by Edublogs.

varsha sabhnani

Wed, 26 Jun 2008 22:57:00 GMT

posted by newsdude

Even though Varsha and Mahender Sabhnani, a wealthy Muttontown couple, were convicted of enslaving two Indonesian women, they should receive mercy because of their charity and kindness to others, defense attorneys argue in a court brief.
Varsha Sabhnani (sahb-NAH'-nee) was convicted with her husband in December of forced labor, conspiracy, involuntary servitude and harboring aliens. Her husband will be sentenced tomorrow.
Protesters included a diverse mix from Domestic Workers United, Damayan Migrant Workers Association and Andolan, which represents South Asian workers.

The protest was held outside the courthouse where Varsha Sabhnani was to be sentenced to 12 to 15 years in prison for enslaving two Indonesian women in her Muttontown home.
The two women, Enung and Samirah, who use single names as is common in Indonesia, testified at the trial of Mahender and Varsha Sabhnani that they were forced to work 19-hour days, seven days a week, while being given so little food that they sometimes ate garbage. They also were forced to sleep on mats in a basement kitchen, they testified.

Federal prosecutors reached their figure by concluding the women deserved overtime pay for their work. Senior U.S. District Judge Arthur Spatt will decide the issue this week while sentencing the Sabhnanis.
Varsha Sabhnani's defense attorney, Jeffery Hoffman, declined to comment yesterday, as did Mahender Sabhnani's attorney, Stephen Scaring, and prosecutors.
The women said they were tortured and beaten for sleeping late or stealing food from trash bins because they were poorly fed. Both women also said they were forced to sleep on mats in the kitchen. The maids' relatives in Indonesia were paid about $100 a month for their work, but the maids themselves were not paid.

Woman gets 11 years in prison in U.S. slavery case

Thu, 27 Jun 2008 01:49:42 GMT

posted by Malik

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A wealthy New York woman was sentenced to 11 years in prison on Thursday for keeping two Indonesian women as slaves, forcing them to work up to 20 hours a day for years after confiscating their passports.

Indian-born Varsha Sabhnani and her husband, Mahender Sabhnani, were convicted in December of forced labor, peonage, harboring aliens, document servitude and conspiracy in what prosecutors called “a case of modern-day slavery.”

Mahender Sabhnani was due to be sentenced on Friday, also by Judge Arthur Spatt, at U.S. federal court in Central Islip, on New York state’s Long Island.

Defense lawyers had argued that the victims made up the story and were delusional.

The couple, owners of an international perfume manufacturing and distribution business, had kept the two Indonesian women in their home in Muttontown, New York.

The investigation began when one of the victims was found in a doughnut shop wearing rags and with open wounds behind her ears, prosecutors said. The second victim was found in the home, hiding in a closet under the basement stairs.

Woman gets 11 years in prison U.S. slavery case - Reuters

NY millionaire gets prison for enslaving workers

Thu, 27 Jun 2008 14:45:33 GMT

posted by netlaw

By FRANK ELTMAN Associated Press Writer

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 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 stairs and take freezing showers as punishment. One victim was forced to eat dozens of chili peppers against her will, and then was forced to eat her own vomit when she couldn’t keep the peppers down, prosecutors said.

U.S. District Judge Arthur Spatt called the testimony ”eye-opening, to say the least _ that things like that go on in our country.”

”In her arrogance, she treated Samirah and Enung as less than people,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Demetri Jones. ”Justice for the victims: That’s what the government is asking for.”

Federal sentencing guidelines had recommended a range of 12 to 15 years in prison for Sabhnani, who was identified as the one who inflicted the abuse. In addition to prison, she will serve three years’ probation and was fined $25,000.

”I just want to say that I love my children very much,” the defendant told the court as two of her grown children looked on. ”I was brought to this Earth to help people who are in need.”

Mahender Sabhnani, 51, who is free on bail while awaiting his own Friday sentencing, wept as he watched his wife’s punishment pronounced.

He was charged with the same crimes because he allowed the conduct to take place and benefited from the work the women performed in his home, prosecutors said. He is expected to receive a much shorter prison term.

Prosecutors contended the accusations amounted to a ”modern-day slavery” case. They said the maids were subjected to ”punishment that escalated into a cruel form of torture,” which ended in May 2007, when one of the women fled early on the morning of Mother’s Day. She wandered into a Dunkin’ Donuts wearing nothing but rags, and employees called police.

”This did not happen in the 1800s,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Lesko said during the trial. ”This happened in the 21st century. This happened in Muttontown, N.Y.”

The women, whose relatives in Indonesia were paid about $100 a month _ the women themselves received no cash _ said they were tortured and beaten for misdeeds that included sleeping late or stealing food from trash bins because they were poorly fed. Both women also said they were forced to sleep on mats in the kitchen.

Spatt postponed a decision on the amount of back wages owed to the women. Prosecutors suggested the women were due more than $1.1 million, while defense attorneys said the figure should be much lower. The couple also face fines and could be forced to forfeit their home, which is valued at almost $2 million. Mahender Sabhnani ran a lucrative international perfume business out of a home office.

One of the women arrived in the Sabhnanis’ Muttontown home in 2002; the second in 2005. Their passports and other travel documents were immediately confiscated by the Sabhnanis, the women testified.

The defense, which intends to appeal, contended the two women concocted the story as a way of escaping the house for more lucrative opportunities. They also argued the housekeepers practiced witchcraft and may have abused themselves as part of a self-mutilation ritual.

Defense attorney Jeffrey Hoffman said 175 letters were submitted to the court detailing Sabhnani’s charitable acts around the world. He called her ”a woman who spent a lifetime doing good deeds.”

Hoffman said that around 2004 or 2005, Sabhnani’s weight plummeted from 325 pounds to 135. ”She did it by starving herself,” and that resulted in a chemical imbalance and significant malnourishment. ”She had become a very different person.”

”I think it’s very harsh,” Hoffman said after the sentencing. ”She has suffered dramatically.”

"Mahender Sabhnani" and his INDIAN wife

Fri, 28 Jun 2008 00:35:48 GMT

posted by Cash_man
Unfortunately, time and time, it is proven that whatever Indians believe in (x1000's of God's), is somehow causing them to do whatever they want to do.ÂÂ You see that at work, at social events, and in cases like this.ÂÂ I think that they should abandon all that non-sense and start believing in one God (as a proven solution).ÂÂ If they do that, they might be able to distinguish between right and wrong.ÂÂ AndÂ it willÂ enable them to join the rest of humanity.