ISLAMABAD
\nA court in the United States has sentenced three family members for using a Pakistani woman as forced labour and physically and mentally abusing her for 12 years.
\nZahida Aman, 80, was sentenced to 144 months in federal prison, Mohammed Rehan Chaudhri, 48, to 120 months in federal prison and Mohammad Nauman Chaudhri, 55, to 60 months in federal prison in the Eastern District of Virginia.
\n\u201cAdditionally, the Court ordered Aman and Rehan Chaudhri to pay the victim $250,000 in restitution for back wages and other financial losses she incurred as a result of the defendants\u2019 criminal conduct,\u201d said a statement issued by the US Justice Department.
\nAccording to a private TV channel, the Justice Department said that Aman, Rehan and Nauman were convicted following a seven-day trial in May of last year. The jury had declared the three of conspiracy to commit forced labour, convicted two of the defendants of forced labour and convicted Aman of document servitude.
\n\u201cThese defendants callously exploited the victim\u2019s vulnerabilities and brutally coerced her labour through physical violence and emotional abuse,\u201d said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department\u2019s Civil Rights Division.
\nThe TLTP learnt that he added, \u201cHuman trafficking is an affront to human rights and to our nation\u2019s core values. The Department of Justice is committed to vindicating the rights of survivors and bringing human traffickers to justice.\u201d
\n\u201cHuman trafficking is a global issue that cannot be tackled alone,\u201d said Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI\u2019s Criminal Investigative Division. \u201cThe FBI will remain committed to investigating all forms of human trafficking and work with our law enforcement partners in combatting the problem.\u201d
\nZahida Aman had arranged for her son\u2019s marriage to the victim in 2002, but even after the victim\u2019s husband moved away from the home, the defendants kept the victim in their Virginia home to serve the extended family.
\nThe US Justice Department said that evidence showed that the victim was compelled by the convicts to serve the family as a domestic servant, using physical and verbal abuse, restricting communication with her family in Pakistan, confiscating her immigration documentation and money and eventually threatening to separate her from her children by deporting her to Pakistan.
\n\u201cThe defendants slapped, kicked and pushed the victim, even beat her with wooden board, and on one occasion hog-tied her hands and feet and dragged her down the stairs in front of her children. All of these coercive means were employed by the defendants to compel the victim\u2019s labour in their home,\u201d said the statement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD A court in the United States has sentenced three family members for using a Pakistani woman as forced labour and physically and mentally abusing her for 12 years. Zahida Aman, 80, was sentenced to 144 months in federal prison, Mohammed Rehan Chaudhri, 48, to 120 months in federal prison and Mohammad Nauman Chaudhri, 55, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":309708,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-309694","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n