Midlothian family sentenced for forced labor of Pakistani woman

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) -Three family members from Midlothian were sentenced for conspiracy to force domestic labor from a Pakistani woman for 12 years.

Court documents state Zahida Aman, 80, was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison, Mohammed Rehan Chaudhri, 48, to 10 years and Mohammad Nauman Chaudhri, 55, to 5 years in federal prison. Aman and Rehan Chaudhri also have to pay the victim approximately $250,000 in restitution for back wages and other financial losses due to her unpaid labor.

According to court documents, in 2002, the victim married Aman’s son and the brother of Nauman and Rehan Chaudhri and lived in the defendant’s home. Over the next 12 years, the three forced her to perform domestic services through physical and verbal assaults.

Documents say they slapped, kicked, and pushed the victim, even beat her with a wooden board, and, on one occasion, hog-tied her hands and feet and dragged her down the stairs in front of her children. In addition, though the victim, a native of Pakistan, had temporary immigration status in the United States, Aman took the victim’s immigration documents.

After that, the three threatened the victim with deportation should she not obey their demands. They also threatened to separate the victim from her children to coerce her labor.

Following a seven-day trial in May 2022, the jury convicted all of the defendants of conspiracy to commit forced labor, convicted two of the defendants of forced labor and convicted Aman of document servitude.

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