ARLINGTON, Texas - An Arlington couple has been charged with domestic servitude after a Nigerian woman was found living in a Tarrant County home as a slave, authorities said.
A court document revealed that the couple allegedly forced the woman to work long hours unpaid and engage in sexual acts with the husband.
The case began in 2007 and culminated into the arrest of Emmanuel and Ngozi Naji.
For nearly a decade, a woman said she was forced to stay inside the couple's Arlington home and was rarely allowed to leave. The doors to the home have no doorknob, just locks. Neighbors said they didn't see her much.
"She cleaned a bit, carry trash can out and stay home all day," said Tinh Van, a neighbor.
According to court documents, the woman told the FBI she was forced to care for the family's three children, cook, clean, launder clothes and do yard work for only $100 a month. She told authorities she slept very little because she was required to work.
"Occasionally, the family would pay her in cash but would immediately borrow the money back and never repay her," Van said.
Van said the woman never said a word to her.
The woman was also allegedly forced to engage in sexual acts with the husband and was told to never report it because she would get in trouble. She only escaped after a family member in Nigeria got a priest in the area to help her get out of the home.
The couple told an investigator they gave her a place to stay and food to eat because she had nowhere to go when she came to the United States to make money for her children back in Nigeria.
