Human trafficker sentenced to 10 years in prison

A Jamaican woman, recently convicted of human trafficking charges with her husband who is from India, was convinced that an Indian worker recruited by her husband had attempted suicide because his salary was sent back to his family.

Having bought into what she was told by her husband Roshan Shegure, Danett was also of the view that attempted suicide was a normal part of Indian culture.

However, the victim, who was recruited to work in the businessman’s jewellery store in 2016, had ingested poison in 2017 after he was forced to carry out daily domestic duties in the couple’s home.

The victim, at the same time, also had store duties but was never paid for either job.

The couple, who was convicted earlier this month following a trial, was yesterday sentenced by Justice Judith Pusey in the Home Circuit Court.

The businessman was slapped with a 10-year prison sentence for human trafficking and five years for concealing travel documents. Both sentences are to run concurrently.

Danet, however, was ordered to pay $1 million or serve three years in prison.

The judge also ordered that US$18,337 be paid to the victim for outstanding salaries, loss of his cellular phone and for his pain and suffering.

Danett’s startling reason for the victim’s attempted suicide was documented in the social enquiry report.

The court was however told that the reason given to her was based on an explanation provided by her husband.

“She explained that it is the custom that their pay is sent to India and when they pay, they try to end their life and she knew that was the reason the complainant drank poison,” the judge said.

But the judge said, “It is clear to me that she herself was manipulated by these explanations given to her by her husband into believing what was going on in her home was normal.”

The woman maintained that her husband had sent over the victim’s pay for the first year and that he brought the second year’s pay to India himself and so she did not understand what was the problem.

“These thoughts were what Mrs Shegure was told by her husband who knew fully well that he was engaged in unlawful conduct and not just following Indian culture,” the judge added.

Justice Pusey at the same time highlighted that the mother of three had indicated that because she had started raising a family early, she had missed out on the opportunity to socialise and to gain much personal experience.

However, the judge said that while the wife had played a role in the offence, she is not beyond rehabilitation.

On the other hand, the judge said she found that the husband was deliberate and calculated in orchestrating the offence and that he did so to obtain unpaid labour.

Justice Pusey stressed that Roshan took advantage of the victim’s vulnerability and manipulated him for his own personal gain.

“His conduct resulted in the near-death of the victim and untold emotional, psychological and physical scars.

“He must be made to understand that his conduct must not only be punished but the punishment must act as a deterrent,” she said.

Additionally, Justice Pusey noted that the businessman’s posture was that the victim, who was driven to the point of suicide, was OK.

She also observed that neither the businessman nor his wife had expressed any remorse or had taken any responsibility for their actions though they both asked for leniency.

The court heard that the businessman recruited the victim after his father took ill and the family started experiencing financial difficulties.

However, two months later when he arrived in Jamaica, he was surprisingly told that he would be living with the family. A day after he moved in, he was forced to start performing domestic duties despite his objection.

The victim was completely isolated from his family and friends after his phone mysteriously disappeared and the couple stopped giving him phone calls.

The court heard that the victim fell into depression and tried to end his life in 2017 before he eventually escaped in 2019 and reported the couple to the Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency in May 2019.

The court also heard that following the ordeal, the victim was forced to continue working while he was ill.

The victim, who was physically abused by the businessman, was not allowed to travel outside on his own.

He was assigned daily duties including preparing the family’s breakfast and dinner, in addition to mopping the house which he did before and after his store duties.

The victim was sent a contract in which he was told that he would be provided with accommodation, medical coverage, transportation and food. It was also agreed that he would be paid 10,000 rupees (approximately J$18,691) monthly and that part of the money would be sent home to his family.

He was also to be paid an additional 5,000 rupees each year and the sums were to be sent to his father’s account.

However, he was given a second contract, which was for four years, when he arrived in Jamaica. It detailed that he would only be paid 10,000 rupees monthly for the last two years and that the salary would be paid at the end of each year and sent to his family in India.

Under the contract, he was to receive training in the first year and paid 5,000 rupees and 7,500 rupees in the second year.

The couple, in the meantime, had denied taking advantage of the victim. They claimed he had keys to the home and could go as he pleased and that he slept over at his girlfriend’s home at times.

Attorney-at-law Samuel Smith represented the couple.