An Indian woman has won a compensation of £184,000 from her employers who made her allegedly work 18 hours a day only at the rate of 11 pence.
Permila Tirkey, who is Indian, from the Adivasi Christian background in Bihar, has brought the alleged claim after being forced to work for a wealthier Hindu British-Asian family seven days a week and was forced to sleep on the floor of Ajay and Pooja Chandhok's home in Milton Keynes.
Her lawyers reportedly said the case set a new legal landmark by establishing that there are Indian workers in Britain who are treated poorly because they are allegedly from a 'so-called lower caste' and are protected by race discrimination laws.
The employment tribunal hearing in Cambridge heard Miss Tirkey, now 39, was also barred from contacting her family and from bringing her Bible with her when the Chandhoks recruited her from Bihar, the poorest of the Indian states, in 2008.
Miss Tirkey said: “I want the public to know what happened to me as it must not happen to anyone else.
“The stress and anxiety that this sort of thing creates for a person can destroy them.
“I have not been able to smile because my life had been destroyed.
“Now I am able to smile again. Now I am free.”
The Daily Telegraph reported that Victoria Marks, her solicitor from charity the Anti Trafficking and Labour Exploitation Unit, said: “This is a very useful judgment for victims of modern day slavery.
“We hope that it will give other victims the courage to come forward and seek redress.”
The tribunal ordered Mr and Mrs Chandhok to pay their former employee £183,773 to make up the shortfall in what she should have received under the national minimum wage.
It was ruled that she was a victim of unlawful harassment and indirect religious discrimination.
Miss Tirkey came to Britain in May 2008 and looked after the couple’s twins, a boy and a girl, and took care of other domestic duties such as cooking and cleaning.
The Chandhoks had claimed Miss Tirkey’s hours were five and a half or six hours per day only with either one or two days off per week.
The Tribunal reportedly found the employers had also breached the European Union working time directive over her rest hours and annual leave.
In addition to the compensation awarded by the tribunal a further hearing to determine remedies for the discrimination and other matters will be held later this year.
