Melbourne couple accused of keeping and abusing a slave for 8 years

A Melbourne couple is accused of keeping a slave and treating her deplorably. Kumuthuni Kannan, 53, and her husband, Kandasamy Kannan, 50, allegedly treated a 52-year-old woman worse than an animal for eight years.

The unnamed Indian woman was brought to the country on a tourist visa in 2007 to take care of the couple’s children and perform domestic work. However, the couple instead treated her like a slave. They verbally and physically abused her, only allowing her an hour of sleep at night and very little food and drinks. The woman also claimed she only received small amounts of money from the Kannans, up to $10 and only on special occasions.

The Australian reports that Mrs Kannan called 000 in 2015 to tell the operator that there was a woman who collapsed on her bathroom floor. She claimed she only knew the woman’s first name and that she had been living with them for only three years.

When paramedics arrived, they found the woman lying in a pool of urine and suffering from hypothermia and an altered state of consciousness. She was said to be “gravely ill” had untreated diabetes type 2. She also showed signs of emaciation, urinary sepsis, crusted lesions on her hands and feet and pressure ulcer.

She told police that she had a verbal agreement with the Kannans to work for them in exchange for $143 a month. But she was forced to work from 5:30 a.m. to 3 a.m. the next day. Her gruelling schedule left her too tired to eat more than small amounts of rice and tea. She was allegedly also locked in the house for up to a month each January when the family went on a holiday to India.

The Melbourne Magistrates’ Court heard Monday that the woman was fearful of Mrs Kannan the most. She described her alleged abuser as a heartless brute. Mrs Kannan apparently hit and slapped her with knives and frozen produce, as well as pulled her hair, kicked her and mentally tormented her.

According to the Herald Sun, Mrs Kannan had told her once that her daughter “should be a prostitute.” She even allegedly abused her worried son-in-law when her family in India became concerned for her.

Mr Kannan would sometimes ask if the woman was okay behind his wife’s back but refused to stop Mrs Kannan from abusing her. In the final year of the woman’s captivity, she was locked out of the house at 2 a.m. in the freezing cold. She was told to go to the shops and fetch yoghurt for the kids before she was allowed back in. Mrs Kannan then brutalised her inside the house and told her husband to mind his own business when he tried to intervene.

Commonwealth prosecutor Fiona McLeod SC told the court that the woman was too ashamed to tell her family what happened and did not want to return home without any money. McLeod estimated that the woman was owed more than $240,000.

Mrs Kannan was reportedly seen repeatedly laughing while the woman gave evidence via video link in court. Her barrister, Gideon Boas, unsuccessfully tried to suppress the couple’s name from the public, arguing that their children would be embarrassed at school. The Kannans also denied the accusations, saying she was treated like family in their home.

The case includes almost a thousand pages of medical material relating to the woman, as well as photos of her after she was admitted to the hospital. The Kannans are charged with possessing a slave and exercising ownership over the woman. The hearing will continue.