Couple’s ‘slave’ kept for eight years found emaciated, court told

A woman allegedly kept by a Melbourne couple was found emaciated and delirious in a pool of urine, a court has heard.

A Melbourne couple allegedly kept a woman slave for eight years, a court has been told.

A woman allegedly kept as a slave by a Melbourne couple for eight years was found emaciated, delirious and with crusted lesions on her hands and feet as she lay in a pool of urine, a court has heard.

Claims made by the Indian woman, who was aged in her 50s at the time, about her treatment are at the centre of a committal hearing which began today.

Kandasamy Kannan, 50, and his wife Kumuthuni Kannan, 53, have been charged with possessing a slave and exercising ownership over a slave after the woman, who cannot be identified, was found at their Mount Waverley home in 2015.

Commonwealth prosecutor Fiona McLeod SC told the Melbourne Magistrates Court the woman was brought to Australia on a tourist visa in 2007 by the Kannans to look after their three young children and perform domestic duties.

Ms McLeod said Mrs Kannan had called 000 in 2015, telling the operator there was a woman who had collapsed on her bathroom floor and was unable to get up.

She said she only knew the woman’s first name, although she had been living with her family for three years.

Paramedics found the woman lying in a pool of urine, suffering severe hypothermia and an altered state of consciousness.

She was taken to hospital in a “gravely ill” condition, showing signs of emaciation, urinary sepsis, crusted lesions on her hands and feet and pressure ulcers.

She also had untreated diabetes type 2.

The woman initially told police she had come to work for the Kannans after they verbally agreed to pay her $143 a month for looking after their children, but she had had to work from 5.30am to 3am with only an hour to rest.

She said she had been verbally and physically abused, and was too tired to eat more than small amounts of rice and tea.

The woman said she had only received small amounts of money from the family - up to $10 - on special occasions such as birthdays.

“She was too ashamed to tell her family what had happened and did not want to return home without any money,” Ms McLeod said.

The prosecutor said the woman was locked in the house for up to a month each January when the family went on holiday to India, unable to even take the household rubbish out to the bins.

Gideon Boas, representing Mrs Kannan, said his client rejected the allegations and the woman had been treated as “part of the family”.

“She became like the children’s grandmother,” he said. “All her needs were met ... she wanted for nothing.”

The couple unsuccessfully sought to have their names suppressed, arguing their three children were at risk of schoolyard bullying.

The case includes 967 pages of medical material relating to the alleged victim, as well as photographs of the woman after she was admitted to hospital in 2015, which prosecutors said corroborated her claims of being abused.

The couple opposed the release of the photos, saying images of the woman’s hands and feet would have a “very emotional impact” on the public.

The hearing continues.