US: A millionaire who inflicted years of abuse on two housekeepers she treated like slaves in her New York mansion has been jailed for 11 years.
Varsha Sabhnani (46) was convicted with her husband in December of forced labour, conspiracy, involuntary servitude and harbouring aliens. The victims were beaten with brooms and umbrellas, slashed with knives, and forced to climb stairs and take freezing showers as punishment.
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.
"I just want to say that I love my children very much," she 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 sentencing, wept as he watched his wife sentenced. He was charged with the same crimes because he allowed the conduct to take place and benefited from the work the women performed.
Prosecutors 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 in the early morning hours of Mother's Day. She wandered into a restaurant wearing nothing but rags and employees called police.
The women, whose relatives in Indonesia were paid about $100 a month for their services, said they were tortured and beaten for sleeping late or stealing food from rubbish bins because they were poorly fed.