Partner of Fijian Who Kept Teen Daughter As A Sex Slave Jailed
The partner of a Fijian and “most despised woman in New Zealand” has been jailed for helping keep a teenage girl as a sex slave - selling her to men around Auckland about 1000 times. Avneensh Sehgal, 26, appeared for sentencing yesterday before Justice Graham Lang in the High Court at Auckland - he is the cooffender with Kasmeer Lata.
Justice Lang said Sehgal’s culpability was less than Lata’s, who forced her daughter into prostitution, but still significant given the lasting effects the pair’s offending will have on the teen.
He sentenced Sehgal to four years and eight months’ imprisonment with a minimum period of two years and four months. The Herald has followed the court proceedings and revealed details of what is only New Zealand’s third conviction for dealing in slaves, which was handed down to Lata last month along with a six-year and 11-month prison term.
Justice Matthew Muir also imposed a minimum period of imprisonment of three years and five months for Lata.
“New Zealand’s courts will not [tolerate] the prostitution of children,” he said.
“Children are entitled to the love and care of their parents - not to be farmed out for financial gain.”
The Solicitor-General is appealing the sentence given to Lata and is seeking harsher terms. At Lata’s sentencing the Crown Solicitor at Manukau, Natalie Walker, called for the offending to be denounced in the most explicit terms. The maximum sentence for dealing in slaves under New Zealand laws is 14 years’ imprisonment.