Indian-Origin Woman In Australia Convicted For Enslaving Elderly Woman

The Indian-Tamil origin woman living in Australia kept a 55-year-old woman enslaved in her home for eight years. The accused has now been sentenced to an additional two and a half years in prison for threatening the survivor for providing evidence in court during the trial.

The accused identified as Kumuthini Kannan, and her husband, Kandasamy Kannan, were convicted and sentenced for keeping the elderly woman enslaved in their home in Mount Waverley between 2007 and 2015.

Woman Convicted For Enslaving Old Woman

Kumuthini Kannan pleaded guilty to the crime of perverting the course of justice during the slavery investigation by the Australian Federal Police (AFP). She was sentenced on July 7 by the County Court of Victoria to an additional two and a half years of imprisonment, according to a police statement.

The judge observed that the additional sentence would begin 18 months before the completion of the current sentence for slavery offences.

Earlier, Kumuthini Kannan was sentenced to imprisonment for eight years with a non-parole period of four years for the slavery charges. She will be eligible for parole in January 2026.

Her spouse, Kandasamy Kannan, on the other hand, was sentenced to six years in prison on charges of slavery. He was given a non-parole period of three years. The couple was convicted and imprisoned in 2021 after the police established that they had kept the elderly woman enslaved for eight years.

The federal police charged the couple with slavery offences in June 2016. In 2020, while awaiting the trial, Kumuthini Kannan threatened the survivor and warned her not to give evidence in court during the trial.

The AFP human trafficking team charged Kumuthini Kannan with an attempt to pervert the course of justice in February 2020. The matter was heard separately from the slavery charges by the court.

The elderly woman was exploited because her family was in India, she couldn’t speak English, and the Kannans had confiscated her passport, as per the local media reports. 

Suggested Reading: Bengaluru Woman Kills Mother, Surrenders To Cops With Body In Suitcase