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A federal grand jury returned a five-count indictment Nov. 17, against Satish Kartan, 43, and his wife, Sharmistha Barai, 38, of Stockton, California, charging them with conspiracy to commit forced labor and the commission of forced labor. In addition, Kartan was charged with fraud in foreign labor contracting, and Barai was charged with benefiting from forced labor. If convicted, each of them faces a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, and Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California Phillip A. Talbert announced the indictment.
According to court documents, between February 21, 2014, and October 3, 2016, Kartan and Barai allegedly hired workers from overseas, mostly India, to perform domestic labor in their homes in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Stockton and elsewhere in the United States. In advertisements seeking workers on the internet and India-based newspapers, the defendants allegedly made false claims regarding the wages and the duties of employment. Once the workers arrived at their homes, Kartan and Barai allegedly forced them to work 18 hours a day with limited rest and nourishment, according to the Justice Department press release. The two allegedly did not pay wages and used force, physical restraint and coercive conduct to get the workers to perform the labor and services.
The indictment alleges that Kartan and Barai struck one worker on multiple occasions, including one incident where Kartan grabbed her hands and caused them to be burned over the flames of a gas stove. Moreover, the indictment alleges that the defendants failed to pay another worker and told her that they would call the police if she tried to leave. When she was ultimately able to arrange to be picked up from the defendants’ house, Kartan refused to provide her with the access code to the gated community so that her ride could enter.
On October 21, 2016, the Kartan and Barai were arrested on a criminal complaint and were released on bond with special conditions that prohibit them from hiring any nonrelatives to perform domestic services or child care work for them, and prohibit them from directly or indirectly contacting any of their prior domestic workers. They were scheduled to be arraigned Nov. 21, after which a trial date may be set.
The post Husband And Wife Charged With Human Trafficking From India appeared first on News India Times.
