Mother accused of keeping a slave in her home made a Triple-0 call as her servant lay deathly-ill in the bathroom for three hours
- Mother and her husband are accused of possessing the woman as a slave
- Jurors were on Tuesday played the woman’s triple-zero call on July 31, 2015
- Woman said the alleged victim had become non-responsive in the bathroom
- She told operator that the woman had been in the bathroom for three hours
A Melbourne mother accused of keeping a Tamil woman as a slave for eight years told Triple-0 operators she was scared when the servant collapsed in her home.
The mother of three and her husband are accused of forcing the woman to work as a slave in their Mount Waverley home between 2007 and 2015, and are facing trial in Victoria’s Supreme Court.
Jurors were on Tuesday played the woman’s Triple-0 call on July 31, 2015 in which she said the alleged victim had become non-responsive in the bathroom.
She told the operator that the woman had spent a lot of time sleeping over the previous day, but had no visible signs of fever.
A Melbourne mother accused of keeping a Tamil woman as a slave for eight years told triple-zero operators she was scared when the woman collapsed in their home
The woman’s temperature was just 28.5 degrees when paramedics including James Kelly arrived.
Mr Kelly told the court that when someone was that cold it’s difficult to warm them up on site.
He said they also struggled to identify the woman.
‘I don’t think I’ve ever had so much trouble trying to establish who someone is when there’s someone there who lives with them,’ Mr Kelly told the jury on Tuesday.
In the Triple-0 call the accused woman described the Tamil woman as ‘an old lady who has been staying with us for a while’.
The mother of three and her husband are accused of possessing the woman as a slave in their Mount Waverley home between 2007 and 2015, when the woman was rushed to hospital in a serious condition
‘She’s sort of like – she’s a guest,’ she said.
The woman told the emergency operator that the woman had been in the bathroom for three hours.
The husband and wife, whose home she was found at, are accused of intentionally possessing the woman as a slave between July 2007 and July 2015
‘She was there lying down and urinating all over the floor. We gave her food – maybe she didn’t have energy or something like that,’ the woman said.
‘She’s just there, she’s just urinating and not talking, and I feel really scared.’
The court heard the alleged victim came to Australia on two six-month tourist visas to help the family before returning in 2007 on a one-month tourist visa.
Her visa expired in August 2007 and her passport in 2011.
Prosecutors have alleged the husband and wife seriously interfered with the woman’s fundamental rights and freedoms, including her ability to leave their home, communicate with others and access healthcare.
They have each pleaded not guilty.