Workers at Grace Road Church (GRC) reportedly undergo severe ‘thrashings’ from their supervisors if found disobeying orders or making mistakes.
This is according to a church member who escaped from the GRC-owned True Mart Navua last week after eight years of undergoing what she described was “slavery”.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the Korean American national who has been with the church for eight years, said members were told that thrashing was a way to bring them back to God.
“They’ll use sticks, big, long wooden sticks and they’ll hit you on the back of your legs,” she said.
“It stings and it hurts. They’ll even kick you.
“And it’s not just one person. If you get a group thrashing, there’s like five people (beating you). There can even be up to 10 people hitting and kicking you at the same time. They’ll be pulling your hair also.
“You can’t cover yourself while getting beaten because that’s showing that you’re going against God.
“It’s pretty demoralising and it’s scary.”
The woman told The Fiji Times that she received a “thrashing” just before she escaped last week after questioning her supervisor about having to perform a massage late on the night she was supposed to knock off early to see her four-year-old daughter.
“This was my only night, only once a week I get to see my daughter and usually I leave at 8pm so I get to see her for a good hour before she sleeps.
“If I leave work at 9.30pm, I won’t get to see her.
“I was disappointed, and it showed on my face, but I stayed and did the massage.
“The next morning, my supervisor growled at me, saying that I had a bad attitude, and I got a thrashing.
“She hit me like five times on the head and my neck and my head was hurting the whole day. I was worried that I might have a concussion. It hurts and it was also demoralising.”
The woman said she had reported the incidents to the Human Trafficking Unit of the Fiji Police Force.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Crime, Mesake Waqa confirmed that investigations into the claims were already under way.
The woman is also seeking Government help in reuniting her with her children, a four-year-old and a 13-year-old son who are still at the Grace Road Navua farm.
Questions on the allegations sent to the Church yesterday had not been answered when The Fiji Times went to press.
