Hinduja family to stand trial in Switzerland for exploiting domestic help

Four members of the Hinduja household, a family of billionaires at the head of an Indian industrial conglomerate, are due to appear in court in Geneva on Monday. They are charged with human trafficking and usury. These charges will be contested by the defendants on Monday at the Tribunal correctionnel of canton Geneva that is competent to judge offences for which the Public Prosecutor's Office intends to request a custodial sentence of more than two years but not exceeding 10 years. Three complainants accuse four members of the Hinduja family of having exploited them as domestic servants in Switzerland. According to the indictment, the complainants were recruited in India and came from very poor backgrounds with little education. The family allegedly brought them to Switzerland to work on the property in Cologny near Geneva "with the aim of exploiting their labour". These employees were accommodated on site but were housed in precarious conditions in the basement of the villa.