Hindujas get over 4 years in jail for 'exploiting' domestic help

A Swiss criminal court on Friday sentenced four members of the wealthy Hinduja family with between four and 4.5 years in prison for exploiting their vulnerable domestic workers. The court at the same time threw out the more severe charges of human trafficking.

The four Indian-born tycoon Prakash Hinduja and his wife, son and daughter-in-law - were accused of trafficking of their servants, mostly illiterate Indians, who were employed at their luxurious lakeside villa in Geneva.

The four were not in court in Geneva though a fifth defendant Najib Ziazi, the family's business manager - was in attendance. He received an 18 months suspended sentence.

The lawyers representing the defendants said they would appeal.

The court said the four were guilty of exploiting workers and providing unauthorized employment. It dismissed the trafficking charges on the grounds that the staff understood what they were getting into.