A Melbourne couple accused of keeping an illegal immigrant as a slave allegedly threatened to return the woman to her Indian family "in a coffin", AAP reports.
The son-in-law of the woman who was enslaved by a Melbourne couple has accused the couple of threatening to return his mother-in-law to India ‘in a coffin’.
The son-in-law of the woman testified with the help of an interpretor/translator in the Melbourne Magistrate’s Court.
According to court documents, the woman’s son-in-law contacted the Kannans after they became aware of her situation in 2015.
He emailed Mrs Kannan the woman's daughter wanted her mother to be sent back home.
However, it is claimed Mrs Kannan replied by email: "Ask her to go f*** herself!!!" and "F*** you!"
The woman was taken to Box Hill Hospital in July 2015 by emergency workers after she collapsed and couldn’t get up.
Kandasamy and Kumuthini Kannan have been charged with keeping a slave at their Mount Waverley home for eight years after taking in an Indian woman aged in her 50s to live with them as a domestic worker.
AAP reports the woman’s son-in-law told the court he met the Kannans while they were holidaying in Tamil Nadu, and had sent the woman "wholeheartedly" to work for the couple in Australia.
He denied being in financial difficulty at the time, but agreed the Kannans had sent small amounts of money.
Mrs Kannan also demanded money for her return to her home village in Tamil Nadu on a phone call, Melbourne Magistrates Court was told.
He claimed Mrs Kannan made threats to the woman's welfare if they did not pay, adding she asked if "they wanted their mother returned in a coffin".
The woman arrived in Australia in 2007 after allegedly being promised a better life and $143 a month - or 8000 rupees - to work in domestic duties for the Kannans.
However, she claims she wasn't paid and instead was beaten and neglected.
In July 2015, she was taken to Box Hill Hospital by ambulance suffering urinary sepsis, untreated diabetes, hypothermia, skin lesions, and all her teeth had fallen out.
The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, gave evidence earlier this week that during her eight years working for the Kannans, she had been beaten more than 10 times.
She said Mrs Kannan hit her with a frozen chicken, poured boiling water on her legs, threw hot tea in her face, and cut her wrist with a knife.
The Kannans are facing a five-day committal hearing which will decide if the matter goes to trial.
