Wealthy N.Y. couple charged with slavery
纽约富豪家养奴隶受指控A millionaire couple accused of keeping two Indonesian women as slaves in their luxurious Long Island home and abusing them for years have been indicted(1) on federal slavery charges.
Varsha Mahender Sabhnani, 35, and her husband, Mahender Murlidhar Sabhnani, 51, operate a worldwide perfume business out of their home, contracting with overseas factories to manufacture the fragrances.
The two were arrested last week after one of their servants was found wandering outside a doughnut(2) shop on Long Island, wearing only pants and a towel. The woman was believed to have fled the home in Muttontown, a tony(3) community on Long Island's north shore, when she took the trash out the night before.
The couple pleaded not guilty(4) in U.S. District Court, and a magistrate(5) judge set bail(6) at $3.5 million and imposed home detention(7) with electronic monitoring.
An indictment handed up Tuesday night formally charged with them with two counts of forced labor and added two counts of harboring illegal residents.
Charles A. Ross, who represents Varsha Sabhnani, has said that the couple traveled extensively and that the two Indonesian women were free to leave whenever they wished. He previously described them as "model citizens" who "only want to clear their names."
Friends and relatives indicated the two would be willing to post bail, but as of Wednesday, they remained in custody(8).
Assistant U.S. Attorney Demitri Jones called the allegations "truly a case of modern-day slavery."
The women, prosecutors(9) said, were subjected to beatings, had scalding(10) water thrown on them and were forced to repeatedly climb stairs as punishment for perceived misdeeds. In one case, prosecutors said, one of the women was forced to eat 25 hot chili peppers at one time.
One of the women also told authorities they were forced to sleep on mats in the kitchen and were fed so little, they had to steal food.
The women legally arrived in the United States on B-1 visas(11) in 2002; the Sabhnanis then confiscated(12) their passports and refused to let them leave their home, authorities said. Identified in court papers as Samirah and Nona, the women said they were promised payments of $200 and $100 a month, but federal prosecutors said they were never given money directly. One of the victims' daughters living in Indonesia was sent $100 a month, prosecutors said.
They have since been cared for by Catholic Charities, according to a spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
一对家私百万的夫妻被指在奢华的长岛家中长年虐待两名印度尼西亚妇女，将她们当作奴隶，触犯了相关联邦奴隶法规。
51岁的Mahender Murlidhar Sabhnani和35岁的妻子Varsha Mahender Sabhnani经营世界范围的香水生意，与海外工厂合作生产。
上周有人发现他们其中一个仆人在长岛面包圈店门外徘徊，身上仅有一条裤子和一条毛巾，于是他们被捕了。头一天晚上，这名女子趁倒垃圾的时候从长岛北海岸Muttontown的一个高贵小区逃跑。
这对夫妻在联邦地方法院的法庭上矢口否认罪行。如果他们愿意交纳350万美元保释金便可返回家中接受由电子监视器监视的监禁。
周二晚上他们被正式提起诉讼，罪名是强迫劳动和收留非法人口。
Varsha Sabhnani的代理人Charles A. Ross说他们夫妇长期不在家中，两个印度妇女可随意随时去任何地方。他之前曾说他们是“模范公民”，只想“洗清罪名”。
这对夫妻的朋友亲戚都表示愿意交纳保释金，但是直到周三他们还在警察局。
助理美国律师Demitri Jones认为这是一桩彻底的“现代奴隶案”。
检举人称这对夫妻对印尼女子拳打脚踢，向她们泼烫水，发现她们做错事情后惩罚她们来回爬楼梯。有一次他们还强迫其中一个女子一口气吃掉25个辣椒。
其中一名印尼女子告诉警方她们只能睡在厨房一块毯子上，吃得非常少，不得不偷东西吃。
警方说：印尼女子于2002年持B-1护照合法来到美国，结果Sabhnanis没收了护照并不许她们离开房子。两名女子告诉法院她们的名字是Samirah和Nona，称Sabhnanis夫妇答应每个月分别给她们200和100美元，但是联邦检举人说她们从未直接得到过一分钱。其中一个受害人的女儿们住在印尼，却能每个月收到100美元。
美国移民和海关执行署发言人称目前她们受照顾
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