A three-judge federal appeals court had agreed to release Varsha Mahender Sabhnani and her husband on bail into home confinement provided they would not flee the country.
NEW YORK: US prosecutors have sought stiffening of conditions for a multi-millionaire Indian couple accused of enslaving and torturing two Indonesian women employed as household help and increasing the bail amount if their mansion is to be turned into a jail where they would be confined.
A three-judge federal appeals court had agreed to release Varsha Mahender Sabhnani and her husband Mahender Murlidhar Sabhnani on bail into home confinement provided it is ensured that they would not flee the country.
It is as yet not clear when the Court will finally take a decision on home detention. Sabhnanis are expected to pay for the security employed at their home to ensure they do not flee and at one time, it was expected to cost $15,000 per day.
But analysts say the cost could increase if the prosecutions suggestion that armed guards, instead of monitors, are deployed to ensure that the family does not flee.
Also, the prosecutors want to increase the bail amount of Mahender Sabhnani from one million to two million. That would increase the bail amount to 3.5 million dollars.
Original bail amounts were 2.5 million dollars for Varsha Sabhnani who was alleged to have tortured the women and one million for Mahender Sabhnani who was accused of allowing it to happen.
The prosecutors would also like the guards to have power to forcibly detain them as also their children if they try to flee.
Besides, they want closer monitoring of the financial dealing of the Sabhnanis who were running a successful perfume business.
The couple's attorneys have a counter proposal which would cost much less. The trial is expected to begin later this year. The two are charged with slavery.
The couple was arrested in May when one of the women was found wandering outside a doughnut shop and later told police that she had been tortured and made to work long hours.
The second woman was found when officials raided and searched the house in a posh neighbourhood. Sabhnanis are American citizens and their passports were confiscated after their arrests, but prosecutors fear they have relatives overseas who could provide a safe haven if they were to flee.
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