Women locked in cage Court convicts the slave owner from Andelfingen

SDA

26.9.2024 - 16:35

A man who lured women to Switzerland, exploited them as slaves and abused them has been found guilty of human trafficking and deprivation of liberty.
A man who lured women to Switzerland, exploited them as slaves and abused them has been found guilty of human trafficking and deprivation of liberty.
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The man who enslaved a Filipino woman and a Brazilian woman in his house has been convicted of human trafficking and deprivation of liberty. He kept his domestic workers in a cage.

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  • A 46-year-old Swiss man has been convicted of human trafficking and deprivation of liberty by the Andelfingen District Court.
  • He lured a Filipino woman and then a Brazilian woman into Switzerland and into his house, where they were locked up for months and kept as house slaves.
  • His Filipino wife helped him to abuse the women. She was expelled from the country for five years.

On Thursday, the District Court of Andelfingen ZH found a 46-year-old Swiss man guilty of human trafficking and deprivation of liberty. His wife was also convicted. Among other things, she has been banned from the country.

In addition to the partial prison sentence of 36 months, nine of which he must serve, the 46-year-old is obliged to undergo outpatient treatment.

The accused Swiss man with a pronounced dominant tendency and a narcissistic disorder had recruited two young foreign women under false promises and exploited them as "house slaves". He locked them in a cage every day and repeatedly tied one of them up.

Brought to Switzerland under false promises

He brought the first victim from the Philippines, his wife's home country, to Switzerland. He told her that she could work for him and get an education.

Instead of training and a permit, the woman received a monthly salary of just 800 francs, a rigorous schedule of housework six days a week and had to be on call around the clock.

In her sparse "free time", the man locked her in a windowless cage with a floor area of just two square meters. Metal bars served as doors. There was no toilet here, just a bucket - and a surveillance camera.

Wife helped with the abuse

After ten months, the woman was able to escape in 2019. In the same year, the Swiss IT project manager lured a Brazilian woman into his dungeon. Her time under his humiliating rule lasted several weeks. Then the police freed the Brazilian woman. Her "predecessor" from the Philippines had reported her tormentor.

The perpetrator's wife, who is from the Philippines, was sentenced to 16 months' conditional imprisonment for multiple counts of aiding and abetting the deprivation of liberty.

She took part in the abuse of the women, controlling them especially when her husband was not at home. The court sentenced her to a five-year ban from the country.

The trial against the husband, who confessed, was conducted in summary proceedings. The wife, who did not confess, underwent normal court proceedings.

SDA