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Christian Woman Held as Domestic Slave of Hindus Receives Compensation

  • Veronica Neffinger

    Veronica Neffinger wrote her first poem at age seven and went on to study English in college, focusing on 18th century literature. When she is not listening to baseball games, enjoying the…

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  • Updated Sep 23, 2015

A Christian Indian woman has received £184,000 as compensation for her years as an employee of a Hindu couple in Britain who treated her poorly.

Permila Tirkey is from Bihar, one of the poorest states in India. She was recruited from there by Ajay and Pooja Chandok who took her to Britain where she worked for them in little better than slave conditions.

The Chandoks made Tirkey work 18 hours a day and only paid her 11 pence for her service. 

According to Christian Today, the Chandoks also forbade her from bringing her Bible to Britain, made her sleep on a mattress on the floor, and did not allow her to contact her family.

Tirkey endured these condition for four and a half years until an employment tribunal ruled that she was a victim of unlawful harassment and indirect religious discrimination. The compensation she received reflected what she would have been paid had the Chandoks been paying her minimum wage.

The tribunal stated that the Chandoks "wanted someone who would be not merely of service, but servile; who would not be aware of United Kingdom employment rights and whom they could treat in the United Kingdom as [Mrs Chandok's] father treated his servants in India.”

Tirkey says she is so relieved to be free and hopes that others will hear her story and not fall prey to employers like the Chandoks.

"I want the public to know what happened to me as it must not happen to anyone else,” Tirkey stated. “The stress and anxiety that this sort of thing creates for a person can destroy them. I have not been able to smile because my life had been destroyed. Now I am able to smile again. Now I am free."

Photo courtesy: pixabay.com

Publication date: September 23, 2015