Three former residents of an Alamogordo halfway house have filed suit against the owners and managers of New Life Recovery House for Women and the Alamogordo Super 8 Motel, on the grounds that Super 8 franchisee Vimal Chevdawala and New Life “house mother” Cindy Hannan conspired to force the women to endure sexual assault in order to stay out of prison.
According to the Complaint, filed last week in the Third Judicial District Court in Las Cruces, New Mexico, Hannan provided workers from the halfway house to serve as housekeepers at the Super 8, selecting young, attractive residents whom she knew would appeal to Chevdawala. While they worked at the motel, the women were subject to sexual assault and battery by Chevdawala, who routinely exposed himself to the women, gratified himself in front of them, rubbed his crotch against them, grabbed and groped them, and forced other unwanted sexual conduct upon them. When the women reported this behavior to Hannan, she is alleged to have laughed, saying that she already knew of Chevdawala’s assaults upon halfway house residents.
Throughout their stay at the halfway house, the women were forced to work at the Super 8, and both Hannan and Chevdawala threatened them with return to prison if they failed to put up with Chevdawala’s assaults. Two of the women were sent back to prison when they refused to work for Chevdawala after he battered her.
According to attorney Tim Chelpaty, who represents the plaintiffs in the suit, many more women were likely assaulted by Chevdawala at the Alamogordo Super 8 Motel. “Cindy Hannan has been sending women to work for Chevdawala for a long time, knowing that most would be too afraid to report what was happening. There are probably many other witnesses,” he said. “Hannan and Chevdawala picked the perfect victims – women who relied on them for help setting their lives back in order and who couldn’t afford to be sent back to prison,” he said. “The State of New Mexico places these women in halfway houses to help them transition back to freedom. We work hard to ensure that transition will be successful. But Hannan and Chevdawala placed outrageous barriers in these women’s way, subjecting them to treatment that no person should have to endure. This process was for the rehabilitation of these three residents, but rather it destroyed them,” he said.
The suit requests damages for eight counts, including assault and battery and retaliatory reporting to the probation and parole board. Attorneys Tim Chelpaty and Brian A. Thomas seek to hear from witnesses and additional victims of Chevdawala and Hannan, who may call Chelpaty at (575) 525-3123.