Indonesian pleads guilty in U.S.

Indonesian pleads guilty in U.S.

USA: An Indonesian woman has pleaded guilty to forcing a maid
from her home country into virtual slavery in the United States
and refusing to let her leave, justice officials said on
Thursday.

Mariska Trisanti brought the victim to Los Angeles on a
tourist visa in 1997 to work for her as a nanny and housekeeper
for two years, federal prosecutors said.

But after the woman arrived, Trisanti confiscated her
passport, used threats and physical abuse to force her to work 17
hours a day, seven days a week and eventually stopped paying her
during her three-year ordeal.

In order to control her servant, the abusive employer told the
woman, who was not identified, that if the she tried to escape,
she would be arrested and put in jail.

"Holding another human being in involuntary servitude is
morally reprehensible," said Assistant U.S. Attorney General
Acosta in a statement received here.

"The Justice Department is committed to aggressively
investigating and prosecuting those who would perpetrate this
ancient evil." --AFP