SEATTLE -- A grand jury indictment in Seattle accuses five south King County residents of enslaving a 16-year-old girl from Afghanistan.

The indictment says she was forced to marry a man, Mohammad Atahee, when she was 13 in Afghanistan. Then she was brought to the United States and beaten, raped and forced to do housework and child care at homes in Federal Way and Auburn.

The five appeared in federal court Wednesday on charges of conspiring to engage in forced labor. Three people, including the 37-year-old Atahee who is also accused of beating and sexually assaulting the girl, are detained pending further hearings. Atahee pleaded not guilty. Two other people were released under travel restrictions.

Trial is set for Dec. 23 in Seattle.



-- The Associated Press