Jun 26, 2008 7:32 pm US/Eastern
Wife In L.I. Slave Labor Case Gets 11 Years
Husband Mahender Sabhnani To Be Sentenced Friday
GARDEN CITY, N.Y. (CBS) ―
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Mahender Murlidhar Sabhnani, 51, and his wife, Varsha, 45, were convicted in December of all charges in a 12-count indictment that included forced labor, conspiracy, involuntary servitude and harboring aliens.
CBS
It was the case that ignited domestic workers' rights in our area. In a packed courtroom in Suffolk County, a judge sentenced a woman to 11 years in prison for abusing and holding two Indonesian housekeepers as slaves.
CBS 2 HD was outside the courtroom as the woman's family members stood by stunned.
Varsha Sabhnani's children held up their father, 51-year-old Mahender, who is to be sentenced Friday, rushing tearfully emotionally past reporters after earlier ignoring an assembled group of workers' rights protestors.
On the 10th floor of federal court Varsha, who had lost more weight, wept openly while dressed in a droopy forest green jailhouse jumpsuit. She appeared as an emotional and physical wreck as she addressing the court. Choking back sobs she said, "I love my children very much. I was brought to this earth to help people who are in need."
But the judge showed little mercy, giving her 11 years, nearly the maximum and hefty fines. The mother of four was quickly rushed away.
"She told her daughters to stay strong and have faith in God and hopefully things will improve," family friend Bharat Jotwani told CBS 2 HD.
The judge stated it was the 46-year-old Varsha who inflicted the pain and directed the torture of the two Indonesian servants she enslaved in their Muttontown estate before one maid escaped to a nearby Dunkin Donuts where the manager called 911.
Housekeepers Samirah and Enung, who were not present at sentencing, had testified to Varsha's exploitive and criminal behavior. They said she beat them with rolling pins and broom handles, and also was responsible for knife slashes, teeth being knocked out, hurling boiling water, force-feeding hot chili peppers and clawing fingernails behind the ear.
But defense attorneys argued Varsha was under severe medical and psychological strain from a starvation diet. Her moods swings were influenced by a metabolic imbalance and three surgeries to remove large flaps of skin.
"In a short, two-year time period, she starved herself down from 325 pounds to 135 pounds," attorney Jeffrey Hoffman said.
Hundreds in the Hindu community submitted letters to the judge outlining Varsha's charity work here and abroad. It made little difference and now she and her husband could lose their home and forfeit their perfume empire.
The domestic workers are being cared for on Long Island by Catholic Charities and other religious groups. They are still under doctors' care medically and psychologically, and are hoping to remain in this country.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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