Nov 5, 2007 6:30 pm US/Eastern
Alleged L.I. Slave Describes Punishment, Torture
Servant Claims She Ate 100 Chili Peppers, Then Her Own Vomit As Punishment For Complaining
CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (CBS) ―
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Mahender Murlidhar Sabhnani, 51, and his wife, Varsha Mahender Sabhnani, 45, have pleaded not guilty to a 12-count indictment accusing them of conspiracy, involuntary servitude and other charges.
CBS
A woman who claims she worked as a slave for a wealthy Long Island couple delivered jarring testimony Monday, alleging the couple gave her torturous punishments for the slightest errors in her ways.
The millionaire couple, Mahender Murlidhar Sabhnani and his wife Varsha Mahender Sabhnani, who are charged with modern-day slavery, listened as the first of their two housekeeper-servants stunned the courtroom with graphic descriptions of alleged abuse.
The Sabhnanis run a worldwide perfume business out of their home on Long Island's North Shore, where they are under house arrest during this sensational trial. On Monday, jurors were riveted as an alleged slave only identified as "Samirah" choked back tears as she detailed horrendous punishments for minor transgressions. Those punishments included being victimized with umbrellas, knives, and brooms.
Samirah, 51, claimed that at the hands of Mrs. Sabhnani, she was scalded, sliced, clubbed, cut, and pinched. She said her ears were pulled, fingers bent, body taped, and she said she'd even suffered a broken hand.
As for Mr. Sabhnani, Samirah testified that he and some of the couple's four children at times saw her naked, when "the Missus" ordered her to remove her clothes as humiliation.
The Indonesian servant said for small mistakes such as if she slept late or was tardy when beckoned, Mrs. Sabhnani would use "a club to hit me in the mouth til my teeth fell off," she said.
She added that she would be starved at times and forced to take food from the trash. "I got up at 4 a.m. to scrub and cook for the Missus. I only ate at noon, two slices of bread," she said. And she maintained that she was scalded with boiling water -- if she complained -- until "the skin was cooked."
The visibly distraught woman seemed to claim most of the torture was at the hands of Mrs. Sabhnani, who another time made her vomit when she was forced to eat 100 hot chili peppers.
"Not satisfied that I wasn't dead yet, she ordered me to swallow six spoonfuls of chili powder, mixed with salt and water," she said. After she vomited, she claimed Mrs. Sabhnani made her eat the vomit.
When asked if she fought back, Samirah said: "No, I asked the Missus for forgiveness."
Court observers wonder why Samirah didn't run away sooner, after she was found inside a Dunkin' Donuts in May in an apparent daze, leading employees to call for help. She, along with another Indonesian woman identified as Enung, were taken into custody by police where they told of the alleged abuse.
But defense attorneys contend the housekeepers engaged in witchcraft and may have abused themselves as part of an Indonesian self-mutilation ritual.
If convicted, the couple could face 40 years in prison.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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