Indian-American Couple Jailed For Abusing, Forcing Cousin To Work 17 Hours A Day At Petrol Pump

The US court has handed down a significant sentence to an Indian-American couple for coercing their relative to work at their gas station and convenience store under false pretenses. Harmanpreet Singh, 31, received a 135-month prison term, while Kulbir Kaur, 43, was sentenced to 87 months. The court also ordered them to pay the victim over USD 225,000 in restitution. The couple lured the victim, a minor at the time, from India in 2018 with promises of education, only to exploit him for over three years. Forced to work long hours daily, the victim performed various tasks at the store, including cleaning, cooking, and managing the register, for minimal wages.

“The defendants exploited their relationship with the victim to lure him to the United States with false promises that they would help enrol him in school,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said.

“The defendants confiscated the victim’s immigration documents and subjected him to threats, physical force and mental abuse to coerce him to work long hours for minimal pay,” she said.

“This sentence should send a strong message that such forced labour will not be tolerated in our communities,” she added.

Singh and Kaur compelled the victim to work at the store, including cleaning, cooking, stocking and handling the cash register and store records, between 12 and 17 hours a day, nearly every day, for minimal pay, according to the evidence presented during the trial.

The couple left the victim at the store to sleep in a back office for days on multiple occasions, limited his access to food, refused to provide medical care or education, used surveillance equipment to monitor the victim both at the store and in their home, refused his requests to return to India and made him overstay his visa, according to the evidence.

The defendants also forced the victim to marry Kaur and used that marriage to threaten to take the victim’s family’s properties or falsely report him to the police if he left.