June 27, 2008
11 Years in Prison for Convicted "Slave Owner"
Varsha Sabhnani, who built a successful perfume business with her husband Mahender, was sentenced to 11 years in prison for enslaving and torturing two Indonesian women who told prosecutors they were beaten, starved and that their pay was withheld. Sabhnani's lawyer had suggested her near-200 pound weight loss impacted how her behavior. Mahender Sabhnani will be sentenced today.
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Sabhnani got what she deserved.
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Of course she lost 200 pounds: Not having slaves to do every little thing taxes the body.
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If they had been Mr and Mrs WASP, do you think they'd have been handed such sentences? I have doubts.
In any case, they did deserve punishment.
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The woman deserved the longer sentence. She was not from India but from Indonesia. Her family still lives there. The 2 abused woman were brought to this country to be servants as they would be in Indonesia. The catch is that servants in many 3rd world countries are slaves. They are beaten, starved, raped, deprived of any dignity and probably told that God created them to fulfill this mission.
Our country is no stranger to slavery but we did free them, not just give it another name.
Another disturbing thing is that their children grew up in that household and probably feel that's the way to treat the help. Perhaps when they see Mom and Dad on visiting day they will further understand that the old country customs can get you hard time.