Thread: 2nd alleged slave victim describes abuse

Newsday.com
2nd alleged slave victim describes abuse
BY ROBERT E. KESSLER

7:28 PM EST, November 20, 2007

An Indonesian woman graphically described yesterday how she and another woman were subjected to various forms of torture, before she broke down in tears and brought the trial of their alleged tormentors to a premature halt in late afternoon.

The woman, named Enung, said she was forced to wrap the second woman, Samirah, completely in plastic wrapping tape after Samirah had been forced to strip naked. After a half hour, Enung said, she was ordered to rip the tape rapidly off, resulting in screams of agony from Samirah.

"It really pained my heart," Enung said, through an interpreter, sobbing hysterically as defense attorney Jeffrey Hoffman objected to what he called her "performance," and the judge overseeing the case, Arthur Spatt, asked her to regain her composure before finally ending the court session.

"I'm a human being. I can't take it. I'm sorry. I apologize," she said.

Enung said she was forced to participate in the macabre activity from fear that her employer, Varsha Sabhnani, would inflict worse punishment on her.

Varsha Sabhnani and her husband, Mahender, a Muttontown couple who operate an international perfume business from their home, are on trial in U.S. District Court in Central Islip, accused of enslaving and torturing Samirah and Enung, and harboring them as illegal immigrants.

Earlier in her testimony, Enung told of watching Varsha Sabhnani inflict other tortures on Samirah, including pricking her face with a kitchen knife, pulling her ears so violently that they bled, forcing her to eat hot chili peppers or chili powder, and making her wear a pair of glasses with its lenses taped over that she could not see out of them.

Enung said that both women were inadequately fed, subsisting on a few slices of bread, doughnuts, a few cupfuls of rice, and scraps stolen from the garbage, including mango peels.

Enung said that once she was so hungry that she "stole" two pieces of chocolate from a candy dish, and that Varsha Sabhnani forced her to stand still for several hours until she confessed. Enung said Varsha and Mahender Sabhnani and their teenage son Rahul stood around and laughed at her predicament.

Enung said while she was not physically punished as much as Samirah, she was hit three times in the face by Varsha Sabhnani -- once with a ring on her fist, once with a meal spoon and once with a Pyrex dish.

Also, Enung said as other forms of punishment she was made to run up and down a flight of stairs in the Sabhnani home for hours at a time, or to take many showers.

"The Missus, my God, she is so mean," Enung said, referring to Varsha Sabhnani.

http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-bzsl ... full.story

Originally Posted by Populist

Also, Enung said as other forms of punishment she was made to run up and down a flight of stairs in the Sabhnani home for hours at a time, or to take many showers.

Wait, I must run up and down my stairs at least 100 times a day (putting clothes away, chasing the kids, etc). There have been a few times when I was too exhausted to even jump in the shower after a very long day.

So, it's somehow "punishment" to an illegal alien to exericse and bathe?

Sorry, no sympathy on this sob story either.

Domestic slavery is a widespread practice among Saudis and other Gulf Arabs. It was only a few years ago that someone from the inbred, gigantic royal family of theirs was charged with the same crime. They usuallly prey upon impoverished Muslim immigrants from South/Southeast Asia and/or The Philippines.

Heard better on Jerry Springer