Domestic ServitudeArchive 2008–2016

Domestic Servitude in Central Islip, New York (2007)

A domestic servitude case from 2007 in Central Islip, New York, United States.

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Documented on the original SlaveryMap (2008–2016). We don’t have a verifiable source on file yet. Know one?

What happened

Mahender Murlidhar Sabhnani, 51, and his wife, Varsha Mahender Sabhnani, 45, were each convicted of all charges in a 12-count federal indictment that included forced labor, conspiracy, involuntary servitude, and harboring aliens. They were keeping two housekeeper in their house and paying them only $100-150 a month, all of which was sent back to their families. The women were forced to work 18 hours a day and were subjected to horrible abuses as "punishments" for actions like sleeping late or stealing food from the trash because they were underfed.

Response and intervention

The couple was arrested, put into jail, tried, and convicted by December. The women fled. The women fled and sought help.

Nearby cases

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Domestic Servitude2007

Central Islip, New York, United States, 2007

United States US

Enung and Samirah were the 2 domestic workers. On May 13, 2007, the police were called to a Dunkin’ Donuts in Syosset, N.Y., where one of the domestic workers had turned up. Her face was bruised and she wore only pants and a towel. When the Dunkin’ Donuts employees tried to talk to the 51-year-old woman, identified as Samirah — like many Indonesians, she uses only one name — she made gestures of hitting herself and uttered what sounded to them like the word “master.”

Needs a sourceArchive 2008–2016

Domestic Servitude2009

Central Islip, New York, United States, 2009

United States US

Wealthy long Island couple who enslaved two Indonesians. Would beat them with brooms, slash them with knives and make them sleep in the kitchen on mats. actual article: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,381243,00.html

1 sourceArchive 2008–2016

Child Labor2004

Brentwood, New York, United States, 2004

United States US

Mariluz Zavala and her husband Jose Ibanez recruited and smuggled over sixty Peruvian nationals (including children) to the US. The couple charged a smuggling fee that ranged from $6,000 to $13,000, and found the victims work, forcing them to then give them all their wages earned each week. The couple used the money to purchase real estate and pay their own living expenses. The victims were forced to work in Amityville, Brentwood, and Coram, New York.

Needs a sourceArchive 2008–2016