Indian couple convicted of labour trafficking

A married Indian couple, who ran two entertainment clubs in Singapore's upmarket clubbing precinct of Boat Quay, was found guilty on Friday of illegally harbouring three Bangladeshi women in the first conviction for labour trafficking here.

Indian nationals Priyanka Batthacharya Rajesh, 29, and Malkar Savlaram Anant, 49, were also charged with exploiting the women, with one woman having been forced to prostitution, according to a Channel News Asia report.

The sentencing of the convicted couple has been slated for Dec 19.

The channel citing court documents reported that the women were promised jobs as dancers at clubs Kanggan and Kickk, with a monthly salary of 60,000 Bangladeshi taka (SGD 982).

But they were subjected to "oppressive conditions" here, said the prosecution, citing "difficult work conditions, verbal abuse, onerous financial penalties should they decide to resign, close surveillance and tight control over their movement and communications".

None of the women were not allowed to keep even the tips they earned, although dancers at both clubs were meant to generate income through customer tips. To top it off, two of them were not paid their monthly salaries.

The women, who shared a six-bedroom apartment in Jalan Besar Plaza with the couple and two club DJs, were not allowed to leave the flat on their own and were not given the keys to the unit.

They were made to surrender their passports and were never given their work permits. Priyanka told one of the women she would be arrested if she was caught outside without a permit, said the Channel report.

They were made to work even when they were ill and turned up at the clubs seven days a week, it said.

Even when two of the women were sick, they were still made to work, the report said, adding they were expected to work seven days a week, without a break and were given revenue targets.

When one of them did not meet her daily revenue target, the couple showed their temper and scolded her. When another woman refused to go out with a customer, Priyanka physically abused her.

They hurled verbal abuses at the victims and threatened to blacklist them and reduce their salaries for not having enough collections," the channel quoted the prosecution as saying.

The victims were also berated for complaining about customers touching them inappropriately and refusing to call customers to come to the clubs during their non-working hours."
"The accused persons have every incentive to lie to conceal their guilt and have done so on several occasions in the court of their testimony in court."