Kerala woman forced to sleep in closet by boss

A woman in the US has been arrested for forcing an Indian woman from Kerala to work 17 hours a day. The woman was made to sleep in a walk-in closet, reveals Yahoo.com.

The wealthy owners paid the worker around 85 cents an hour even though the minimum wage in New York is $7.25 an hour. She was paid $29,000 but she should have been paid at least $206,000.

The owners of 30,000-square-foot home, known as Llenroc mansion, with a helicopter pad, 15 fireplaces, marble flooring, 24-karat gold gilded ceilings and a glass elevator, had hired the Indian woman to look after their four children.

The woman endured the forced labour situation for over 67 weeks. She was also allegedly denied health benefits, sick days or any personal time off from her labors. It was only when the immigration agents received a tip-off from the National Human Trafficking Resource Center last year, that she was able to walk away from the estate.

The US Department of Labor found out that the woman is entitled to $206,000 in back wages.

The woman's employer even called up her son in India to ask him to persuade his mother to tell the authorities that she was related to her employers and was living in their house as a 'guest'. The woman's son had recorded those phone calls.

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