Millionaires convicted for maltreating househelps

A millionaire couple from Long Island New York who owns a perfumery business were convicted Thursday on forced labor, conspiracy, involuntary servitude and harboring aliens. The wife, Varsha Sabhani, 46, was sentenced to 11 years in prison and the husband Mahendar Sebhani, 51, to not more than 3 years. The husband was charged also because he allowed the maltreatment to take place and he also benefited from the work the women performed in their house. The victims are Samirah and Enung from Indonesia. They testified that they were beaten, slashed with knives, forced to take freezing showers as punishment for their misdeeds like sleeping late or stealing food from garbage because they were not fed. One victim even told the judge that she was force to eat chili peppers and to swallow her vomit because she cannot eat those peppers. They were not emancipated directly, only their families in Indonesia were sent $100 a month. Their passports and travel documents were confiscated from them. This torture ended when one of them was able to escape in 2007 (early morning of Mother’s Day) and seek help in a nearby Dunkin Donuts shop.
The husband is still out on $4.5 million bail with 24 hour security until he surrenders on October 30. They own a 2 million home in Long Island and the perfume business is being operated adjacent to their house. No decision yet as to much are these women are entitled as backwages and overtime. As of now they are being kept in an undisclosed place in New York by Catholic Charities.