A RETIRED doctor from West Harrow was today found guilty of exploiting an African woman and keeping her as her slave.
Saeeda Khan, 68, denied trafficking a person into the United Kingdom for exploitation between October 21, 2006, and February 11 this year but was found guilty this afternoon following long deliberations from the jury. The offence carries a maximum jail sentence of 14 years.
Southwark Crown Court heard in the past week how Khan, of Whitmore Road, kept 47-year-old Swahili-speaking victim Mwanahamisi Mruke at her beck and call and used a bell to summon her.
At Khan's first appearance at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court in September last year, prosecutor Malachy Pakenham said: "Police were notified back in February this year by a support group for overseas domestic workers that Tanzanian national Ms Mruke was being kept in extremely poor conditions and they were concerned about her.
"As a result of that, the Metropolitan police began an investigation which ultimately led to the arrest of this defendant."
He said the victim had previously worked for Khan's husband in Tanzania at a hospital and when he died a new role was found for her.
Khan arranged for Ms Mruke to obtain a passport and a visa and she was alledgedly brought to Britain in October 2006 to serve as domestic help and a carer living with the family in Whitmore Road.
Mr Pakenham said Ms Mruke earned 120,000 Tanzanian shillings – equivalent to £51 - a month, of which 20,000 shillings would be sent to her daughter in Tanzania and £10 would be put into a bank account set up for Ms Mruke but administered by two members of staff working for Khan.
He said the money to the daughter soon stopped and that Ms Mruke's wage was poor even by Tanzanian standards.
The court heard Ms Mruke was sometimes forced to work from 5am to the same time the following morning by performing duties such as cooking, cleaning, gardening and looking after the defendant's disabled children when they were at home.
Mr Pakenham said: "She was given no room to sleep in despite working in a three-bed bungalow. She was given a thin mattress and a sheet and told to sleep on the kitchen floor.
"She was often only given bread to eat. She was given no time off and was not allowed to go outside. When she spoke to her daughter by phone, it was effectively monitored by the defendant."
He said it was only when the victim was being treated for ongoing medical problems at a doctor's surgery, where she was always accompanied by Khan, that she told of her alleged plight to an interpreter who raised the alarm with the charity.
Later the police carried out their raid on February 11 2010 and removed Ms Mruke from the property.
