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