May 16, 2007 4:36 am US/Eastern
Feds: Wealthy L.I. Couple Held 2 Women As Slaves
Indonesian Women Subjected To Physical Abuse By Couple
MINEOLA, N.Y. (CBS/AP) ―
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Two Indonesian women were subjected to beatings and other abuse and forced by a couple to work in their home in a swank Long Island neighborhood without pay for several years, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.
AP
Two Indonesian women were subjected to beatings and other abuse and forced by a couple to work in their home in a swank Long Island neighborhood without pay for several years, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.
Authorities said they uncovered the abuse after one of the women was found by police wandering outside a donut shop on Sunday morning, wearing only pants and a towel.
Varsha Mahender Sabhnani, 35, and her husband Mahender Murlidhar Sabhnani, 51, were facing arraignment in U.S. District Court in Central Islip on charges they kept the two women against their will since 2002.
A federal complaint alleged the couple, who live in East Muttontown -- a tony north shore community in Nassau County -- kept the two Indonesian women in their home as domestic servants, barring the victims from leaving the house for any reason other than to bring trash to the curb.
The women said they were promised payments of $200 and $100 a month, but federal prosecutors said the women were never given money directly. One of the victim's daughters living in Indonesia was sent $100 a month, prosecutors said.
The women were subjected to beatings, scalding water thrown on them, and forced to climb up and down stairs as punishment for misdeeds. In one case, one of the women was forced to eat 25 hot chili peppers at one time.
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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