A judge sentenced three family members in Virginia court on Tuesday after they forced another family member into what prosecutors described as “the modern-day equivalent of slavery” for more than 10 years.
The case involved Zahida Aman, 80, and her two sons, Mohammed Naumman Chaudhri, 54, and Mohammed Rehan Chaudhri, 48. The three were found guilty of conspiracy to commit forced labor in May 2022.
The conspiracy began in 2002 when Aman arranged for one of her sons to marry the victim, prosecutors shared. After the two were married, the woman was kept in their Virginia home to serve the extended family.
According to prosecutors for the case, the family members “callously exploited the victim’s vulnerabilities and brutally coerced her labor through physical violence and emotional abuse.”
Evidence presented during the case showed that verbal and physical abuse towards the woman were used to compel her to serve the family as a domestic servant. This saw her work for them every day, starting early in the morning.
“The defendants slapped, kicked, and pushed the victim, 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,” the Department of Justice said in a release.
Prosecutors were also able to show that they restricted the communication she had with her family in Pakistan, and she wasn’t allowed to talk to anyone but the family.
The evidence also showed that the woman’s immigration documentation and money were taken by the family. They also threatened to separate her from her children if she didn’t do what she was told. There were also times that they threatened to deport her back to Pakistan, evidence showed.
Prosecutors also found that the family did not allow her to learn how to drive or obtain her US driver’s license, restricting where she could go.
While speaking at the May 2022 conviction, US Attorney Jessica D. Alber for the Eastern District of Virginia said that the woman had gone through a “modern-day equivalent of slavery.”
“The defendants exploited someone who should have been a loved family member to force her to work in their home for [more than a decade],” Alber said. “We will stop at nothing to prosecute those that commit these or similar crimes.”
Aman has been sentenced to 12 years in federal prison on conspiracy to commit forced labor, forced labor, and document servitude charges; Mohammed Naumann Chaudhri has been sentenced to 5 years in federal prison on conspiracy to commit forced labor charges; and Mohammed Rehan Chaudhri has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison on conspiracy to commit forced labor and forced labor charges.
The court has also ordered that the family pay the woman $250,000 in restitution for back wages and other financial losses she suffered throughout the 12 years they forced her to work for them.
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