Couple Charged
With Slavery Of
Their Nicaraguan
Domestic
Employee
She was sixteen
when she came to
Costa Rica from
her native
Nicaragua with
the promise of
work. Yesterday,
at the age of
22, the girl,
now a woman, was
rescued from
being a domestic
slave for the
last six years.
The woman was
identified by
her last names
Centeno Barrera,
was brought to
Costa Rica from
her hometown of
Matagalpa by a
Nicaraguan
couple living in
Santo Domingo de
Heredia, Costa
Rica.
The couple,
identified as
Portobanco
Torres (wife)
and Medina
Kraudy (husband)
would keep their
domestic
employee/slave
locked up in the
house when they
went out, work,
shopping, etc.
The young woman
didn't have any
way of
communication
with the outside
world until she
was able to
contact
neighbours
through the
window of the
house where she
was kept in
slavery.
The Organismo de
Investigación
Judicial (OIJ)
took the call
from neighbours
seriously and
began an
investigation
that resulted in
a raid of the
home on Monday.
Jorge Rojas,
director of the
OIJ, said the
couple have been
charged with "trata
de personas"
(white slavery).
"We raided the
home and the
young woman told
us she had been
held captive for
the last six
years", Rojas
told the press.
Apparenlty, the
young woman told
authorities that
she was never
received pay for
her services.
The couple have
denied the
accusations
against them,
saying it is all
a lie made up by
the young woman.
"The neighbours
made a spectacle
of the
situation, we
brought her here
by land from
Nicaragua to
give her a
better future.
We paid half her
salary to her,
the other half
sent to her
mother in
Nicaragua, here
she has no
family or
documents, she
is alone", said
the employer.
"Several times
we took her to
the Parque de
Diversiones so
that she could
play with my
daughter, she
never left the
house alone
because she
didn't want to,
the doors were
always open to
her. Many times
when I came home
from work I
would find her
sleeping,
leaving her keys
on the door, she
was never locked
up", the woman
said.
The couple,
after the
arrest, were
released on bail
having to sign
in at the local
courthouse every
two weeks and
had to surrender
their passport
and not have any
contact with the
victim or her
family.
This case is
typical of many
situations where
Nicaraguans come
to Costa Rica in
search for work
and find
themselves in
slave like
conditions,
though not to
such extremes.
Many young
Nicaraguan
girls, some
under age, make
their way to
Costa Rica with
the consent and
blessings of
their families
back home, in
the hopes of
better their
(the family's)
economic
condition, as
salaries and job
opportunities in
Costa Rica are
much better than
up north.
Many of the
domestic
employees dream
of going home
one day, to be
the rescuer of
the family, to
build a home, a
better chance
for the children
they have left
behind with
their mothers
and
grandmothers.
Some do realize
their dream,
many others end
up staying in
Costa Rica,
working for
minimum wages
(or less in some
cases) and
continue their
live of
servitude,
working as
domestic
employees.
In past year
Costa Rica has
passed
legislation
giving domestic
employees - both
foreign and
national -
rights that
include a decent
workplace, work
hours and pay. |
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