Thaindian News

London, Mar 17 (ANI): A former hospital director in Britain has been convicted of trafficking a woman from Tanzania and using her as a “slave”.

Saeeda Khan had brought Mwanahamisi Mruke, 47, to the UK with the promise of a domestic service visa, 120,000 Tanzanian shillings a month (50 pounds), and also 10 pounds a month pocket money.

Mruke, who was desperate to fund her daughter Zakia’s college education, agreed.

But when she arrived in Britain in October 2006, Mruke was forced by Khan to work around the clock and sleep on the kitchen floor of her home in Harrow, London, for the next three years.

Mruke was fed just two slices of bread a day, ordered around by a bell, which her captor kept in her bedroom, and prohibited from leaving the house.

Her passport was also taken away, and Khan made threats about her relatives in Tanzania, and although the payment arrangements were initially honoured, Khan stopped paying Mruke after one year.

The jury at Southwark crown court found Khan guilty of trafficking a person into the UK for exploitation.

She was sentenced to nine months in prison, suspended for two years, and ordered to pay 15,000 pounds towards police and prosecution costs, plus 25,000 pounds compensation to Mruke.

Judge Geoffrey Rivlin QC said Khan had told “a pack of lies” during the trial.

“Your behaviour was callous and greedy,” the Guardian quoted him as saying.

Speaking after she was convicted, Mruke said she would “never forgive” the person who had imprisoned her.

“I felt like a fool, I was treated like a slave. Even the money I was promised, I was never paid. I feel terrible about this,” she stated.

She is now pursuing a civil claim against Khan. (ANI)