A 23-year-old Indonesian woman testified Friday that she was sexually assaulted numerous times over the past four years by a Saudi Arabian man for whom she worked as a domestic servant in his Aurora home.
The preliminary hearing, held before Judge Marilyn Leonard in Arapahoe District Court, was to determine whether there is probable cause to try the man, Homaidan Al-Turki, 36, and his wife, Sarah Khonazian, 35, on three counts of felonious sexual assault plus kidnapping and conspiracy. After nearly six hours of testimony, slowed because all testimony was translated into English, Indonesian and Arabic, the hearing was continued until Wednesday.
The couple also face federal charges of servitude and forced labor. Despite the serious nature of the charges, the couple have been able to post more than $1 million in bail – half of it posted by the Saudi government and the other half raised within the Arab community in metro Denver. Al-Turki is a doctoral candidate in linguistics at the University of Colorado at Boulder. The couple has five children, ages 5 to 15.
The soft-spoken Indonesian woman, dressed head to toe in a black veil, said she dropped out of school after the 10th grade and signed on in 1999 with an Indonesian employment agency for two years of domestic work in Saudi Arabia, a common practice among Indonesian women. She worked for Khonazian’s sister, then accepted an offer from al-Turki to move with them to the United States, she said.
From 2001 to November, she awoke each morning before 6 a.m., fed the children, cleaned the house, cooked lunch and dinner for the family, washed clothes, ironed, then cared for the children until 10 p.m., when she would return to her basement room. She said she worked seven days a week and estimated she has been paid $1,800 since moving to the United States. She said she hasn’t seen her family since she left six years ago.
The woman said al-Turki began visiting her in her bedroom after midnight. Eventually, she said, his weekly visits led to fond ling and finally to rape last fall.
Federal agents received a tip about the family last year and obtained a search warrant for the home in November.
Defense attorneys John Richilano and Dan Recht said the government’s case has many flaws, including the fact that the woman was interviewed intensely 12 times by a federal agent before mentioning any sexual activity.
Staff writer Mike McPhee can be reached at 303-820-1409 or mmcphee@denverpost.com.
