Posted: 10/16/2008 6:51:40 AM EDT
That in the 21st century, this is still considered "normal" in some parts of the world...
People need to stop continuing their archaic and irrational customs here in this country.
I'm shocked that they can only receive up to 4 years in prison for this...
IHMO these guys ought to be strung-up by their gonads and slowly whipped to death.
Posted by JS98010 in my HTF:
Five indicted in Seattle for enslaving Afghan girl
05:38 PM PDT on Wednesday, October 15, 2008
KING / KING5.com Staff
SEATTLE – Five people living in South King County pleaded not guilty in federal court in Seattle Wednesday after allegedly enslaving a 16-year-old girl from Afghanistan.
According to the indictment, Mohammad Atahee married the girl when she was 13 in Afghanistan, then moving to the U.S. He is accused of beating and sexually assaulting the girl at a home in Federal Way.
Atahee and his co-defendants are also accused of coercing the girl, called “JV1” in court documents, into forced labor at the Federal Way home and at a home in Auburn.
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The others charged in the conspiracy are Nasima Yousuf, Mohammad Yousuf, Nahid Yousufi and Maruf Yousufi. All four are in some way related to each other, but none are a known blood relation to Atahee or the girl.
The indictment says “JV1” was forced to cook, clean and do laundry for Atahee and the Yousufis, as well as perform child care. Documents say Atahee also routinely beat and sexually assaulted the girl between August 2006 and January 2008.
Three of five defendants appear at the federal courthouse in Seattle on Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2008. They're accused of bringing a teenage girl from Afghanistan to the U.S. and forcing her into domestic slave labor.
Prosecutors say on Aug. 6, 2006, Atahee assaulted the girl. She reported it to Federal Way Police. Court documents say Nahid Yousufi then threatened the girl with deportation and threatened to hurt her family if she didn’t recant her statement to police. She recanted and returned to Atahee.
On January 26 of this year, prosecutors say Atahee sexually assaulted the girl. She again reported the attack to Federal Way Police. Prosecutors say Nahid Yousufi lied to Child Protective Services, telling them the girl was 24-years-old in order to have the girl returned to Atahee.
“Most tragically, she was required to live with this man who the family had her marry in Afghanistan and brought her over. But this man is nearly 20 years her senior, and as a result of forcing her to work for the family, he also physically and sexually assaulted her,” said prosecutor Ye-Ting Woo.
The girl has been removed from the home and is in an undisclosed location. She is said to be doing OK considering the circumstances.
All five defendants, who are legal immigrants, pleaded not guilty to charges of forced labor. One defendant exclaimed "They’re all lies!" If convicted, all five face up to four years in prison and deportation.
Prosecutors accuse Nasima Yousuf and Nahid Yousufi of arranging the marriage between the then 13-year-old and Atahee in the summer of 2005. Because the marriage was not recognized by U.S. authorities, the suspects allegedly told U.S. embassy officials that the girl was Nasima Yousuf’s own daughter in order to obtain a visa. |
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