Swiss couple sentenced for enslaving two housekeepers

In its verdict handed down on Thursday, the District Court of Andelfingen in canton Zurich found the Swiss man guilty of human trafficking, kidnapping and forgery. Keystone-SDA

A 46-year-old Swiss man has received a three-year sentence, including nine months in jail, for exploiting, locking up and handcuffing two housekeepers he brought to Switzerland between 2018 and 2019. The Zurich court also sentenced his Filipino wife for complicity.

+ Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox

In its verdict handed down on Thursday, the District Court of Andelfingen in canton Zurich found the Swiss man guilty of human trafficking, kidnapping and forgery.

He was also fined and must undergo a course of therapy.

This verdict is in line with an agreement reached between the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the defence in a fast-track procedure. The man and his wife have admitted the facts and accepted the sentence. The defendant has already served five months of his nine-month prison sentence and paid CHF16,000 in compensation to his two victims.

+ Human trafficking cases on the rise in Switzerland

However, the court said that, based on the man’s statements, it doubted whether he really understood the reasons for his conviction and the seriousness of his actions.

During the trial last week, he had claimed that it was not illegal to lock up and handcuff someone if they signed a contract to do so.

According to a psychiatric report, the defendant has a narcissistic personality disorder and there is a high risk that he reoffends.

Wife appealed

The court also handed a one-year sentence to his wife, of which four months were suspended, for complicity in kidnapping; she also received a fine. The court was more severe than the prosecutor, who had requested a ten-month suspended sentence.

+ A series on nannies and human trafficking in Switzerland

The 32-year-old was also expelled from Europe’s Schengen area for five years. Her lawyer, who had asked for an acquittal, has announced that she will appeal. He believes his client was manipulated by her husband.

Ten months of ordeal for one of the victims

Between July 2018 and July 2019, the husband brought a 22-year-old Filipino woman, then a 30-year-old Brazilian, to Switzerland as housekeepers in the couple’s home in Zurich’s Weinland. They promised to give them training and a residence permit.

In reality, he exploited them, locking them up and tying them up in a 2m2 hole when they were not working. The young women were paid CHF800 a month and sometimes stayed locked up for up to 17 hours a day.

+ Hindujas reach financial settlement in domestic worker abuse trial

The first cleaning lady ran away after ten months, then filed an official complaint. The second, who arrived at the end of June 2019, was released by the police in mid-July, thanks to a complaint by the first victim.

The wife of the main accused watched over the victims, sometimes handcuffing them herself or locking them in their “jail”.

Her version of events, according to which the housekeepers “played along”, is not credible in the light of their testimony, said the presiding judge. What’s more, the accused never expressed any remorse or made any real confession.

Translated from French by DeepL/sb

How we work

This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.

If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to [e-mail].