THREE
GUILTY OF ABUSE OF ENSLAVED HYDERABAD WOMAN IN LONDON
Three
people, including a wealthy optician, have been found guilty of abusing a
39-year-old illiterate Indian woman, who was kept as slave in a multi-million
pound luxury home here and was raped while being passed between three families.The
mother of four from Hyderabad, whose identity was not revealed, was employed in
three London households as a nanny and domestic worker.The woman was beaten,
raped and given out of date food that made her ill.The court heard that the
victim was barely given a proper meal. The woman was kept as a prisoner, given
virtually no money and had her passport confiscated, the Independent reported.The
victim has been left in a wheelchair in part because of the injuries sustained
at the hands of the abusers.
She has lodged a claim
against the Hertfordshire force which initially investigated the case.Obhrai,
54, of Moor Park, Middlesex and Yousuf, 33, of Edgware, north London, were both
convicted on Friday of assault.Obhrai, an opticiain, was additionally convicted
of threats to kill. Balapovi, 54, of St John's Wood, northwest London, was
convicted of rape by a jury at Croydon Crown Court. Two other defendants were
acquitted. They will be sentenced next month.The woman, described as one of
society's most vulnerable people, came to Britain in 2005 to try to make a
better living and to send money to her family in Hyderabad.But when she sought
help she was threatened by her keepers, rebuffed or failed to make herself
understood by authorities.In one case, a professional interpreter told a police
officer investigating the case: "She's telling a lot of lies - it's common
in her country," the court heard.Police investigated while she was with
three different families but critics say that the incidents did not appear to
have been connected. She was first taken to hospital in 2006 with a gashed foot
after her employer Shamina Yousuf,33, hurled a cup at her. ( Source: Deccan Chronicle
)
Prof. John Kurakar
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