The UK’s Indian-origin richest family, the Hindujas have been given four years and six months jail terms on 21 June, 2024 by a Swiss court for exploiting domestic workers. Prakash and Kamal Hinduja as well as son Ajay and his wife Namrata were found guilty of exploitation – usury in the Swiss penal code – and illegal employment, says a BBC report.
“Members of the family were accused of trafficking mostly-illiterate domestic workers from India, confiscating their passports, and forcing them to work 16-hour days in their Geneva villa without overtime pay.
The domestic workers were paid between 220 and 400 francs ($250-450) a month — a wage up to 90% less than what they could expect to earn in Switzerland. This wage was paid in Indian rupees into banks back home that the workers could not physically access.
“They’re profiting from the misery of the world,” Geneva prosecutor Yves Bertossa told the court. He accused the Hindujas of spending “more on their dog than on their domestic employees,” reports dw.com, quoting news agencies.
During the hearing the defendants said the domestic workers got ample benefits and down played claims of exploitation.
The Swiss court in its verdict dismissed the charges of human trafficking against the defendants. Reports says the family will appeal the verdict.
The Hinduja family’s net worth is $ 20 billion, says the Forbes.
*Sources – Many sources including BBC, dw.com, Forbes etc.
