Varsha Sabhnani - Articles - Zimbio

“Slavery” Woman Varsha Sabhnani Gets 11 Years

Thu, 27 Jun 2008 16:39:38 GMT

posted by John

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 made them take freezing showers, climb stairs repeatedly and forced them to eat several hot chillies then eat their own vomit.

Prosecutors describe the case as “modern-day slavery.”

Varsha and Mahender were arrested after one of the women was picked up wandering the streets dressed in only pants and a towel.

Lawyers for the accused are saying that the Indonesian women the couple enslaved were witchcraft practitioners and may have abused themselves, adding that they could have left any time they wanted but didn’t.

This might be due to the fact that their passports were confiscated by the Sabhnanis and their visas had expired, but who knows.

"I was brought to this earth to help people who are in need," said Varsha at her sentencing.

The wealthy couple have a perfume business and four children. The husband has yet to be sentenced but is expected to receive lighter treatment.

Woman Sentenced To 11 Years For Keeping Slaves

Sat, 13 Jul 2008 04:12:25 GMT

posted by aishamusic

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 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.

http://ap.google.com

http://www.judiciaryreport.com

“modern-day slavery”

Sun, 17 Dec 2007 22:03:51 GMT

posted by ultratupai

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 out as the single largest population group in Batavia until the last half of the eighteenth century”. It is also interesting to note that local Javanese were banned from the slave trade likely out of the fear they would poison the food or slit the throats of their masters as they slept.

Over the years there have been a number of notorious cases of abused Indonesian women working as domestic servants in Singapore, Hongkong, Saudi Arabia and now the United States. Such is the progress of globalism.

The New York Times on December 3, 2007 reports:

From Stand in Long Island Slavery Case, a Snapshot of a Hidden U.S. Problem

Paul Vitello

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y., Nov. 30 — The two tiny Indonesian women know just a handful of English words. They know Windex. Fantastik (the cleanser, not the adjective). They know the words Master and Missus, which they were taught to use in addressing the Long Island couple they served as live-in help for five years in the sylvan North Shore hamlet of Muttontown.

Their employers, Varsha Sabhnani, 35, and her husband, Mahender, 51, naturalized citizens from India, have been on trial in U.S. District Court here for the past month. They are charged with what the federal criminal statutes refer to as involuntary servitude and peonage, or, in the common national parlance since 1865, the crime of keeping slaves.

The two women, the government charged in its indictment, were victims of “modern-day slavery.” …> read full article here

The AP, December 17, 2007, writes:

Long Island millionaires guilty in ‘modern-day slavery’ case

Frank Eltman, AP

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. - The woman had been tortured for more than five years when she wandered into a Dunkin’ Donuts on Mother’s Day morning, wearing rags on her back and with wounds oozing from her ears. Scars of various sizes covered her body.

She had run away from the nearby home of Varsha Sabhnani and her husband Mahender Sabhnani _ millionaire perfume moguls whose extravagant life in their Long Island mansion was worlds apart from the humble existence the woman led back in Indonesia.

The mansion was also the place where the Indonesian woman, named Samirah, said she and a fellow maid were subjected to horrific abuse at the hands of the Sabhnanis. When authorities arrived at the home, they found the second maid cowering in a small closet under the basement stairs; the women were taken to the hospital to treat all the abuse they endured. …> read full article here

NY Couple Convicted in Slavery Case

Frank Eltman, AP

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) — A jury on Monday convicted a millionaire couple of enslaving two Indonesian women they brought to their mansion to work as housekeepers.

Mahender Murlidhar Sabhnani, 51, and his wife, 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.

Prosecutors said the women were subjected to repeated psychological and physical abuse and were forced to work 18 hours or more a day. …> read full article here

Slavery in 21st century

Thu, 27 Jun 2008 17:52:39 GMT

posted by paviagrawal

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

I hate to say that I am from India. There are few Indians who can go to this extent is totally mind boggling. How can they even think about doing such a ghastly act.

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NRIs involved in US Slavery Case : Gets 11 years in Prison & $25,000 fine

Wed, 26 Jun 2008 22:27:00 GMT

posted by knowliz
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, document servitude and conspiracy called as a case of modern-day slavery."
- (Source : Reuters)

I feel very ashamed seeing Indians getting involved in these kinds of activities. To read more about this news item, read below articles:

Woman gets 11 years in prison in US Slavery Case - (Reuters)
Long Island millionaire gets prison for enslaving workers - (silive.com)

On the other side of the coin, number of millionaires in India grew by 23% from the last year. Indians are among the world's top millionaires. (By the way, there are 10 million millionaires in the world as per MSN Money.) And Indians are making progress in every field, every business and every technology and are most valuable team members in any industry.
(Follow links to read about these stories in detail.)