The richest family of Britain, the Hindujas have been in the headlines as the Swiss Court found them guilty of reportedly exploiting their domestic workers at their luxury villa in Geneva. In a latest development, the family’s spokesperson has given a statement regarding the family.
New Delhi: The Hindujas, Britain’s richest family has been in the news for quite some time now; a few days ago, a Swiss Court had pronounced them guilty of exploiting their domestic workers at their luxury villa situated in Geneva. Prakash and Kamal Hinduja and their son and his wife – Ajay and Namrata Hinduja were accused of ‘usury’ for having taken advantage of their vulnerable staff. In a latest development in the Hinduja Controversy, the family’s official spokesperson has released a statement specifying that the family has not been subjected to imprisonment, conviction, sentence or detention; the statement further said that the charges of human trafficking have also been dropped. Here’s what the official statement says…
Spokesperson Of Hindujas Releases Statement
As mentioned earlier, the spokesperson of Britain’s richest family has released a statement with respect to the ongoing case against them, for allegedly exploiting their domestic workers in their luxury villa in Geneva. The statement reads, “The four Swiss-national members of the Hinduja Family, Kamal and Prakash Hinduja, Namrata and Ajay Hinduja, have not been subjected to any imprisonment, conviction, sentence or detention.”
The statement further read, “The most serious of the charges, human trafficking, against them were completely dismissed by the court yesterday. It may be noted that the case has no complainants left anymore and they had declared in the court that they were led into signing statements that they didn’t even understand. They had neither intended to nor initiated such proceedings. All of them further testified that the four Hinduja family members treated them with ‘respect, dignity and like family. The four family members have full faith in the Swiss judicial process and remain confident that the truth will prevail.”
What Happened With Hindujas?
Prosecutors had charged four members of the UK family – Prakash Hinduja; his wife, Kamal Hinduja; their son Ajay Hinduja; and their daughter-in-law, Namrata Hinduja with trafficking and exploiting several workers from India. The family members were accused of confiscating the passports of the employees and forcing them to work 16 hours a day or longer without overtime pay in the villa. Lawyers representing the Hindujas had rejected the allegations.
According to the indictment, some domestic workers, who took care of children or housework, were paid as little as 10,000 rupees a month (about USD 120 currently). It said that many of the workers were from poor backgrounds in India and had toiled “from dawn until late in the evening” without getting paid for working overtime. The indictment said that they received salaries below Geneva’s minimum wage for domestic workers and money was paid into Indian bank accounts that they could not easily get access to.
Prosecutors had alleged that the Hinduja family had taken the passports of domestic workers 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 were expected to be available at all times, including on trips to France and Monaco, where they worked under the same conditions.
(Inputs from ANI)