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French couple keep slave called Fatty for 20 years

For 20 years, a French couple kept a woman as a domestic slave, compelling her to work 16 hours a day for merely 50 cents an hour, a court in France revealed on Friday.

It was alleged that Daniel and Jeanine Chaumier referred to the woman as ‘Fatty’ while she labored in their home in Lyon, located in the southeast of France, for 480 hours a month.

The 58-year-old, originally from Senegal, claimed she worked for the couple for eight years in Africa before they brought her to France with a tourist visa.

Afterward, they confiscated her passport and warned her that attempting to escape would result in her arrest as an illegal immigrant.

Consequently, she was compelled to cook and clean for the couple and one elderly relative, receiving very little compensation, while having to wear second-hand clothing passed down from Mrs. Chaumier.

Finally managing to escape in 2009, the woman, only referred to as Fatou, saved enough money to travel 400 km to Bordeaux, where she reached out to a French family she had known in Senegal.

They notified the authorities, leading to the arrest of the Chaumiers, who were charged with domestic slavery and engaging in the trade of human beings.

Didier Saint-Avit, Fatou’s lawyer, informed the court that he was seeking £50,000 in unpaid wages from the couple, who remain free on bail throughout the trial.

He noted, “She was afraid to leave due to her lack of identity papers or residency permit and feared she would be arrested.”

“After enduring such circumstances for 20 years, she finally gathered the courage to escape.”

He also mentioned that the family had nicknamed her ‘toutoune,’ which is French slang for Fatty.

In court, the Chaumiers asserted that they treated her like ‘one of the family’ and claimed that the accusations of slavery were overstated.

Mr. Chaumier stated, “She was involved in the ups and downs of family life with us.”

“We attempted multiple times to regularize her legal status in France, but we were unsuccessful.”

The prosecutor has requested that the judge impose a two-year suspended prison sentence on the couple, along with two years of probation and full restitution to Fatou.

The proceedings are ongoing.

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