Quick– read the following paragraph and tell me what you think:
The women legally arrived…in 2002; (their employers) then confiscated their passports and refused to let them leave their home, authorities said.
Domestic slavery? Nightmarish abuse of Sri Lankan maids, at the hands of Arab employers? That’s what I thought. I was only half right (Thanks, KXB).
Two Indonesian women were subjected to beatings and other abuse and forced by a couple to work in their home in a swank Long Island neighborhood without pay for several years, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.
Authorities said they uncovered the abuse after one of the women was found by police wandering outside a doughnut shop on Sunday morning, wearing only pants and a towel…[IHT]
Apparently, employees at the store thought the woman was homeless, until she started slapping herself and trying to utter the word “master”.
Varsha Mahender Sabhnani, 35, and her husband Mahender Murlidhar Sabhnani, 51, both from India, entered not guilty pleas at their arraignment in U.S. District Court and were ordered held pending a Thursday bail hearing. Their attorney did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment. [IHT]
The women were only allowed outside of the house if they were taking out the garbage; when anyone visited, they were stashed in a 3×3′ closet. That’s pleasant compared to this:
The women were subjected to beatings, scalding water thrown on them, and forced to climb up and down stairs as punishment for misdeeds, prosecutors said. In one case, they said, one of the women was forced to eat 25 hot chili peppers at one time.
One of the women also told authorities she was cut behind her ears with a small pocket knife and both were forced to sleep on mats in the kitchen. They were fed so little, they claimed, that they were forced to steal food and hide it from their “captors.”[IHT]
It’s just so depressing. What quirk of destiny relegates one South Asian woman to endure the beatings of her Arab mistress while halfway around the world, her desi– albeit privileged– counterpart metes out similar viciousness to another brown human being? Sri Lankan and Fillipino maids get abused in the middle east, the Indonesian survivors from this cringe-inducing story were enslaved by people our parents might associate with, right here in the U.S and desperate, option-less women everywhere are exploited by those who should know better but don’t care. For shame.
Indonesian women are enslaved in the U.S, desperate, option-less women everywhere are exploited by those who should know better but don’t care.
a lot of these cases of domestic slavery cases seem to involve immigrants and/or expats who are simply recreating social relations that would be totally conventional in their nation of origin. e.g., there was a case in colorado of an arab family that had basically enslaved a filipino maid. and there have been cases of west african immigrants bringing people over from their home villages and attempting to recreate “patron-client” relations.
The woman has simultaneously one of the most beautiful and most cruel faces I’ve seen in a long time.
Awful news, and unfortunately all too common.
I’m so proud to be from Lawn Guyland, and 15 mins from Muttontown at that, (which wins for best Long Island town name next to Amityville and Hicksville, btw). I’m sad to say that while growing up and going over to friends’ houses, I encountered many illegal immigrants who were maids/servants. They always looked frightened and homesick. It’s sad because these families could have afforded regular maid services rather than benefitting from slave labor, essentially. I’m sure the wages and treatment were both sub-par, even if outright abuse wasn’t involved. It’s not suprising to me that this couple is of East Indian descent.
(Btw, is it just me or does that lady look wayyy older than 35-years-old!? Atleast 10 years older than that!)
Rather like this one ?
And Camille, when you say ‘all too common’ – do you mean in North America, by South Asian perpetrators?
And Camille, when you say ‘all too common’ – do you mean in North America, by South Asian perpetrators?
OMG!
Yeah.. Not cool.. I hope they are punished appropriately..
This is atrocious–I hope this couple gets all they deserve for treating another human being this way. on another note, this is a much better news item than the shamita shame shame anecdote–lets not descend to tabloid level on this blog.
a lot of these cases of domestic slavery cases seem to involve immigrants and/or expats who are simply recreating social relations that would be totally conventional in their nation of origin.
You are right. In India such behavior would not seem as outrageous as it seems to be (and in fact is) in the US. The courts should take that into account during sentencing. Someone was telling me the other day about a case in Cleveland where some Somali women were being deported for burning their children with iron rods as a means to discipline them.
Before anybody misinterprets what I said, I am not suggesting that such cruelty is common place in India. All I am saying is that the treatment of maids in India is much different from the treatment of domestic help in the US.
No, it’s not just you. Something seems askew. Of course, some people age faster than others. Wouldn’t be surprised to find out that she’s been a victim of abuse herself.
I’m guessing that’s not all that happened. It sounds like the perpetrators had other… needs… especially considering they were wealthy enough to afford a small army of hired hands. This charming couple was the first thing that came to mind when I read that article. Who knows what they’ll find when they dig up the Sabhnani’s back yard…
The couple should be ashamed of themselves. ( Mrs. Sabhnani looks like Cruella De Ville and the evil queen from Snow White combined.) I think they should be forced to community service including cleaning public restrooms and not just picking up litter in parks.
The only public restrooms they’ll be cleaning are the ones in Sing Sing…
I don’t even want to imagine how often this scene plays out here in the U.S. I can still remember first being shocked by this through a very high profile case in the Los Angeles area (posh Rancho Palos Verdes) about eight years ago involving an Indonesian couple enslaving their Indonesian maid (even worse than this story because the woman was also raped by the husband). see link (I remember much more detailed accounts in the LA Times)
This is really disturbing to read…. I hope the ‘captors’ are suitably punished.
You would think all immigrants would have automatic compassion bred inside of them for other immigrants. I guess not.
The courts should take that into account during sentencing. Someone was telling me the other day about a case in Cleveland where some Somali women were being deported for burning their children with iron rods as a means to discipline them.
I don’t know how I feel about taking “cultural relativism” into account during sentencing — by that logic you keep climbing on and on up the ladder of heinous acts. There are cases where Somali and East African communities are bringing “cutters” to North America to perform female circumcision/mutilation.
It’s difficult to walk that cultural line, but as they say, ignorance of the law is not a legitimate defense.
It’s probably a typo, people. I highly doubt she’s 35.
i was struck by the face too. looks like she’s right of the casting couch. definitely witchy, dorrian grayish. anjelica huston should play her in the movie.
…expats who are simply recreating social relations that would be totally conventional in their nation of origin…
The scalding water and the closet prison: totally conventional? What crazy part of India is that normal.
Some of us are able to enjoy both types of stories. One doesn’t cancel the other. Besides, not everyone is going to like every post yadda yadda yadda.
Hi chachaji, I meant in North America, not necessarily by South Asian-origin perpetrators. Not saying it’s the norm, just saying it’s much more prevalent than people think, and is often paired with holding women as sex slaves as well.
I grew up on LI too – and all I was aiming to do by going to Newsday was just check up on the Mets. This was not what I wanted to see.
I would hesitate to adopt the “look at them” attitude expressed by some posters. If the evidence is persuasive, throw the book at them, but simply pointing out their Cruella de Ville looks is not evidence of guilt. No one looks good on a perp walk, which is why cops do it.
Thanks for clarifying, Camille. Put together with scorps1027 @ #4, it all makes a little more sense.
Still, being forced to eat 25 hot chilli peppers (exactly 25 ?). So parts of the story seem surreal, even if the big picture – exploited, abused, underpaid, female, ‘illegal’ domestic help – seems common enough.
And scorps1027 and Amitabh – you guys are exactly right – she’s 45, says this link, behind the picture above.
Forgive my ignorance, but did she take both his first and last names?
wonderfully, now we are exporting the abuse of domestic help abroad as well. if they are found guilty, i think the most apropo punishment would be to send them to KSA or UAE and have them serve as servants to another highly abusive and mistreating household for equal time period and they have to hand over whatever salaries they get to the two maids. and then they have to serve as the maids butlers.
If you’re going to do unadulterated evil, at least have the good sense not to look like Cruella De Vil!
I wasn’t aware this was done in the north, but in some parts the wife takes the husband’s first name as a middle or last name.
Crap. She’s only 35?!?! Not to sound catty, but she looks like a desi version of a 50 year old Cruela DeVille. You would THINK that people that can ‘afford’ slaves could afford to take care of themselves too. Ehh, what was I thinking, she enslaved people and treated them cruelly. Of course she didn’t have the common sense to use sunblock.
Nuh-uh. Some of the most horrible cases of abuse I’ve heard of have involved immigrants to the US abusing folks they brought over from the mother country, and it’s often because the folks they brought over are so grateful to them for the chance to be in Amrika/realise that they depend on the employer to be able to work/have a work visa that they keep mum about abuse. In a very much diluted version of this (not to equate it at all!) I’ve heard from my brother who used to work in the software field that several desi software employers got engineers from desh and paid them much less than the market wage because they had them on H-1s and the employees were dependent on them to stay in the US. Being a migrant doesn’t make you an angel or endow you with extraordinary empathy, you can still be a competitive, self-seeking schmuck. And I sort of agree with Razib on this one, these people are replicating relations that would be more normal back home, like expecting a servant to be on the job 24/7 or making them sleep on mats on the floor, or keeping strict limits on their food intake.
I’m struck by the amount of people who commented on the physiognomy of the woman and how her apparent resemblance to a cartoon character must be an accurate reflection of her character and capacity for evil, but were silent on the subject of her husband. With his obligatory uncle-ji mustache, cherubic face, and that just-got-caught-with-his-hand-in-the-cookie-jar pout, there’s no way Mr. Sabhnani was perpetrating any unspeakable abuse, right? If Hannah Arednt were still around, I’d be awaiting the publication of her Sabhnani in Muttonville: A Report on the Avuncular Desiness of Evil.
Word to the third, Seahawks fan. For a fan of an obviously inferior sports franchise, you made a very perceptive point.
With his weak chin and glasses, Mahender looks vaguely like Toht in RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK — and speaking of which, I wish him a similar fate:
Mahender “Toht” Murlidhar Sabhnani gets some Karmic Retribution
Nobody every said anything remotely close to this, most people were just commenting on how she looks like the wicked witch of the west. Nobody is assigning guilt based on appearance.
Anyhow, this brings up another issue of how “servants” are treated in S. Asia. Even when they’re not being abused, I think the contempt for which they are treated is often deplorable and leads to these sorts of incidents. It starts with the caste – anytime you allow people to believe they’re superior due to birthright there will be problems.
The IHT got it wrong I think. Newsday has her at 45 which seems to fit her picture better.
I offer a sincere apology to anyone offended by my comparison of the accused lady to a cartoon character. It was immature and I just typed in my first reactions without much thought! Of course, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”.
Also, someone on this post made a very good point that she may have suffered abuse at some point(s) in her lifetime. Often, abusers are a product of molesting/bullying in childhood, etc. I don’t know this accused lady’s (or accused man’s) background.
I think most people who were treated with extreme cruelty in their younger years don’t become abusive themselves. I was treated very horribly by some relatives and a few school mates (like racist taunts, having rocks thrown at me) in my younger years. As I grew older I was determined to never to repeat those actions myself and treat others with respect, etc.
Hi A N N A,
Before I get to the essential point of this comment, I wish to take exception to this:
(emphasis mine), and I hope you will not treat this as political-correctness gone wild. Arabs have been made targets of every possible negative stereotype, without Sepia Mutiny going down that road. What seems to you like something that “can only happen among Arabs” — understandably so, perhaps, given that happenings in the Gulf/Middle-East get greater coverage, in the U.S. press, than events in South Asia — is to me something that occurs with depressing regularity in India. I understand that you were making a certain rhetorical point, and the above was an effective way to make it, but I submit that there are other equally effective ways making a rhetorical point. If we are at all interested in greater international understanding, we must curb our temptation to embroider stories with an extra adjective which probably isn’t necessary, right ?
As I have written once earlier in an analogous context, ethnicity is the wrong place to be looking at for an explanation of the Sabhnanis’ type of behaviour. Rather, in any society (or diaspora thereof) where: a) the (post-)Enlightenment view of the worth of individuals is not widespread; and b) there are people rich enough to afford a retinue of servants, this sort of behaviour will be disproportionately common. Being Arab, or Indian or Somali; or non-Christian, for that matter, has got nothing to do with it! But whatever the sociological explanations may be, I must echo your closing remark. For shame.
It was all over the morning news today and they showed pictures of the maids, I’m unsure where they found the pictures of the maids sleeping on mats on the floor without any covering or pillows etc. They showed pictures of the cuts one suffered. It was painful. They were arraigned yesterday and a bail hearing is set for today. It was pathetic to watch them being hauled in handcuffs out of the precinct. $10 says I will find a connection to them in the next day or two because I know a lot of people who live in Muttontown.
And can we ease up on the ‘she looks evil’ bit. Evil doesn’t sport any specific looks. I mean it’s one thing to resort to the ‘what she looks like’ discussions anytime a woman is in a post but this one is completely irrelevant.
people like this are why I believe in the dealth penalty…
How sick does someone have to be to treat another human being like this? Disgusting!
Unfortunately, this is not a rare occurrence. Way back when I lived in NJ, there was a South Asian couple who had a young girl from Somalia as there indentured servant. She was brought there with promises of a decent wage and an education, none of which she received. An Aunty from my Gurdwara went to this couples house for a get-together and noticed that something was off. She approached the girl, gained her trust, and had her out of there as soon as possible. That aunty was my hero.
You are right. In India such behavior would not seem as outrageous as it seems to be (and in fact is) in the US. The courts should take that into account during sentencing.
al chutiya, not sure what you meant by “the courts should take that into account.” regardless of whether it’s culturally accepted in one place and less in another (if the alleged abuse did occur), it’s atrocious and should be punished as would any other blatant violation of human rights. this is not the same as “public kissing is acceptable in the u.s. and so a kisser should not be punished in india.” if these women were subjected to the horrific abuses alleged by the media, then this couple as any other, regardless of geographic location, ought to be punished to fullest extent of the law.
I started to type 3 responses to this story, because it makes me agitated, but decided my responses were far from the question which I wish to ask.
So here it is:
What makes people from S. Asia, feel like they cannot do thier own domestic chores?
I’ve seen this attitude in many people I know. Mind you, these are not top level executives, these are lower to mid level managers at thier companies. Laundry is too hard. Ironing is too hard. Cooking is too time consuming. I think the majority of American families manage to do all of these tasks and more. Why is it that S. Asian immigrants feel like they need help?
When my parents immigrated in the 60’s, this was not the prevalent attitude amongst thier friends. They were seeking the American dream and recognized that it had its downsides, but were determined to figure out how to make things work.
I would love to get your insights, because it might help me to respond better. RIght now, I just stare and keep quiet. I do all of my own cooking, laundry, and ironing. I work full-time and have 2 kids too.
Lifelong….My mom raised me as a single parent and she did everything! With cooking, cleaning, and two jobs she still found time to drive me to soccer practice and take me to Gurdwara. I think some “people,” regardless of origin, just don’t want to work. So they whine about it or can afford to hire a helping hand. I’ve learned, watching my mom and others, how hard work humbles and pays off. I don’t think all South Asians feel like they cannot do their domestic chores.
i would rather hire a maid. nothing wrong with that. i would rather focus on work that generates more money than the cost of a maid.
i actually asked my grandfather this question when i was in india working with slum women and maids. the idea that servants should have to work everyday boggled my mind. his response was that people have gotten used to it so that’s the way it is. it’s an attitude i came across a lot among the upper class. people don’t see their servants has having a life outside their work. when i suggested they work a 5 or 6 day week, a family friend said “but what would they do on their day off” as if the servants lives revolve around their employers.
hiring people to help run a house is the same as hiring people to help run a business. businesses hire cleaners and dishwashers and cooks and waitstaff in the interest of efficiency. it’s how you treat your workers/employees/”help.” if people are treated with dignity and respect and compensated fairly for their work, there is no problem in offering them jobs. i work for someone of higher means than myself, as does the majority of the population in this capitalist, consumerist world. most of us work to make someone else wealthier. isn’t that what domestic labor allows for?
the difference is that if i’m not happy in my current employment situation, i have the privilege and luxury to leave and find another. unfortunately, this is not the case for everyone.
You are absolutely right, no sense of humor @ #42, when you say this:
and I do appreciate the irony. But please do refer to the italicised line in #37. I was expressing my trepidation at the increasing acts of drive-by defamation of Arabs that one sees in the media. Please note, everybody: I’m not saying that A N N A, or Sepia Mutiny, are drive-by defamers. What I’m saying, however, is that one expects Sepia Mutiny not to repeat the sins of the run-of-the-mill media.
It is true that horrific acts of domestic-servant abuse take place in some of the Gulf states. But this is not uniquely Arab behaviour. Given the crisis of confidence that many, many Arabs – who may be our friend and neighbours – have been made to experience (*), I am just expressing the wish that Sepia Mutiny would be more empathetic. (Full disclosure: I’m not Arab; I’m Indian.)
(*) And please don’t say that acts of violence by Arabs have no moral isomorphs among acts of violence being committed here and now by other ethnic groups.
I’m reading the book FAST FOOD NATION, which explains that many American families now largely eat out… and how fast-food chains do most of the “cooking” (if you can call it that).
For those who prefer home-cooked meals to McDonald’s, but STILL think cooking is “for servants”, there is good news: the Japanese are hard at work creating humanoid service robots that will clean, cook and look after us.
(But what if the robots rebel against being the abused “servant caste”? ;-))
Puliogre in the USA wrote:
i would rather hire a maid. nothing wrong with that. i would rather focus on work that generates more money than the cost of a maid.
I think that would be fine, if you can afford and pay the going rate for service, which last time I checked was $700/week net for a household manager. (One of my close friends left her career in software development to become a household manager. She said it was far more lucrative) That assumes that you provide living quarters (separate bdrm, and bath at a minimum), and a strict 40-hr. work week with paid holidays and perks (gym membership, spa services, etc.) If you can afford that, than more power to you.
Gudia, your mom and my mom would have been great friends. Even though mom is in her 70’s now, she cannot sit still. When she watches her soaps in the evenings, she has to chop veggies or iron clothes. I just find that the attitude that “domestic work is beneath me” attitude is more prevalent among newer immigrants or people who have never really assimilated into the larger culture.
Asha, thanks for your insights.