Hindujas are not subject to imprisonment, conviction, punishment or detention; Human trafficking charges dismissed: spokesperson

Britain's richest family, the Hindujas, have made headlines as a Swiss court found them guilty of exploiting their domestic workers at their luxury villa in Geneva. Recently, the family spokesperson made a statement regarding the family.

New Delhi: The Hindujas, Britain's richest family, have been making headlines for some time now; A few days ago, a Swiss court found them guilty of exploiting their domestic workers in their luxurious villa located in Geneva. Prakash and Kamal Hinduja along with their son and his wife, Ajay and Namrata Hinduja, were accused of “usury” for taking advantage of their vulnerable staff. In the latest development in the Hinduja controversy, the family's official spokesperson issued a statement clarifying that the family was not subjected to imprisonment, conviction, punishment or detention; the release further states that the human trafficking charges were also dropped. Here's what the official press release says…

Advertisement

Advertisement

Hindujas spokesperson issues statement

As previously mentioned, the spokesperson for Britain's richest family has released a statement regarding the ongoing legal action against them, for allegedly exploiting their domestic workers at their luxury villa in Geneva. The statement said: The four Swiss nationals of the Hinduja family, Kamal and Prakash Hinduja, Namrata and Ajay Hinduja, have not been subjected to any imprisonment, conviction, punishment or detention.

The statement further said: “The most serious charge against them, human trafficking, was completely dismissed by the court yesterday. It should be noted that there are no longer any plaintiffs in this case and they have stated in court that they were made to sign statements that they did not even understand. They had neither the intention nor the initiation of such a procedure. All of them further testified that the four members of the Hinduja family treated them with “respect, dignity and like family”. All four members of the family have full confidence in the Swiss judicial process and remain convinced that the truth will prevail.”

What happened to the Hindujas?

Prosecutors had charged four members of the British family: Prakash Hinduja; his wife, Kamal Hinduja; their son Ajay Hinduja; and their daughter-in-law, Namrata Hinduja, for trafficking and exploitation of several Indian workers. The family members were accused of confiscating employees' passports and forcing them to work 16 hours a day or more without overtime pay at the villa. Lawyers representing the Hindujas have rejected the allegations.

According to the indictment, some domestic workers, who looked after children or did household chores, were paid as little as 10,000 rupees per month (around $120 currently). According to the indictment, many workers came from poor backgrounds in India and worked from dawn until late in the evening, without being paid for their overtime. The indictment said they received wages below the Geneva minimum wage for domestic workers and that money was paid into Indian bank accounts that they could not easily access.

Prosecutors had alleged that the Hinduja family took the domestic workers' passports and told them not to leave the villa, where they slept in bunk beds in a windowless basement room. According to the indictment, the workers had to be available at all times, including during trips to France and Monaco, where they worked under the same conditions.

(ANI entry)