Forced Labor & Abuse: Indian Couple Jailed in US

A couple from Virginia, who are Indian American, have been sentenced for making the man’s younger cousin work at their gas station and convenience store for over three years.

Harmanpreet Singh, 31, and Kulbir Kaur, 43, who are now divorced, received different prison sentences for their actions. Singh got 135 months, and Kaur got 87 months in prison. They were also ordered to pay the victim $225,210.76 (INR 1.8 crores).

The couple tricked the victim into coming to the United States by promising to help him go to school. Instead, they took away his immigration documents and forced him to work long hours for little pay. They threatened and abused him physically and mentally.

After a two-week trial in January, a federal jury in Virginia found Singh and Kaur guilty of forced labor and other crimes. Evidence showed that in 2018, they convinced Singh’s younger cousin, who was a minor, to come from India to the U.S. with false promises of education. Instead, they made him work at Singh’s store from March 2018 to May 2021.

The victim had to work 12 to 17 hours a day, almost every day, for very little pay. Singh and Kaur used various methods to control him, including taking his immigration papers, abusing him, and making threats. They made him sleep in a back office, gave him little food, denied him medical care and education, and watched him with surveillance cameras.