AP News, December 11th, 2007
Two Indonesian housekeepers who say they were abused and forced into servitude by a millionaire couple concocted many of the stories they told federal prosecutors, a defense attorney said Tuesday.
"Nobody saw anything except what Enung and Samirah wanted them to see," attorney Stephen Scaring said in closing arguments at the trial of Varsha Mahender Sabhnani and her husband, Mahender Murlidhar Sabhnani.
"This craziness, this imagination, this making up things — isn't that what this case is all about?" Scaring said.
Defense attorneys have said the two women made up the abuse story as a way of escaping the Long Island house for more lucrative opportunities. They contend the housekeepers practiced witchcraft and may have abused themselves as part of an Indonesian self-mutilation ritual.
"The last resort of defense lawyers is to engage in the blame game," Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Lesko said in the government's rebuttal. "`Blame the victims; just don't blame my clients.' That's what's going on here."
Noting claims that the maids had to sleep on mats in the kitchen, Lesko said: "It might be OK to have servants sleep on the floor in Indonesia; it's not OK in America."
The Sabhnanis, accused of forcing the housekeepers to work 18 or more hours a day for little food or money, have pleaded not guilty to charges including conspiracy and involuntary servitude.
Lesko has alleged that over the years, the women were forced to eat vomit; scalded; stabbed; and made to take freezing showers.
Deliberations are expected Wednesday. If convicted, the couple, who have four children, could face 40 years in prison.
