NEW YORK (AFP) — A millionaire has been sentenced to 11 years in prison in the United States for enslaving and torturing her two Indonesian housekeepers.
Varsha Sabhnani, 46, was sentenced to 132 months in jail on Thursday, while her husband Mahender Sabhnani, 51, who ran a perfume business in Long Island near New York, will be sentenced Friday.
The couple, who were found guilty in December, beat their maids with sticks, threw scalding water at them, forced them to run up and down flights of stairs as punishment and made them eat hot chili peppers.
They also refused to pay the women and instead would send 100 dollars a month to their families in Indonesia. The maids worked 20-hour days.
Prosecutors charged that the Sabhnanis also failed to give the women sufficient food and forced them to hide in the basement or garage whenever they entertained guests at home.
The two women arrived in the United States in 2002 under valid visas. But the Sabhnanis confiscated their passports and their visas expired.
The Sabhnanis were arrested in May 2007 after police found one of the two housekeepers in a fast-food restaurant wearing just pants and a towel with an open wound in her head.
"It is shocking that crimes like these could occur in one of our communities in the 21st century," said US Attorney Benton Campbell.
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