London ( CNN ) -- A Pakistani woman went on trial in London Monday , charged with keeping a woman from Tanzania as a slave . Saeeda Khan , 68 , is accused of overseeing the visa and travel arrangements that brought Mwanahamisi Mruke , 45 from her home in Tanzania to London in October 2006 . When Mruke arrived in London , prosecutor Caroline Haughey told the jury , she was expecting to work as Khan 's housekeeper . In fact , the prosecution alleged , Khan treated her `` as a possession , not a person . '' Mruke regularly worked 18-hour days , and would be summoned by the sound of a bell to attend to Khan . She was not allowed to leave the house , except to visit the supermarket or for medical appointments , and always accompanied by Khan , the prosecution said . In addition , the jury of nine women and three men was told , Khan kept Mruke 's passport and would listen in on her phone calls back home . When Mruke 's parents were dying , the jury heard , Khan forbade her to travel home , with the result that she did not get the chance to say goodbye to them before they died , nor did she get the opportunity to attend their funeral . The jury was shown pictures of what the prosecution said was a mattress and a single blanket , the bed on which Mruke was forced to sleep in the kitchen of Khan 's three-bedroom house in Harrow , northwest London . The jury also heard that Khan had failed to honor an employment agreement relating to Mruke . That document - which , the prosecution said , Mruke had no recollection of signing - described two forms of payment to Mruke . The equivalent of 50 British pounds ( about $ 81 ) would be paid monthly into a bank account in Tanzania , while Mruke would receive 10 pounds as an allowance in London . The court was told that the 10-pound allowance had ceased to be paid during Mruke 's first year in the UK , and that the payment into the Tanzanian bank account had stopped after two years . Towards the end of the morning session , Mruke appeared as the trial 's first witness . She sat behind a screen , hidden from the defendant , who was sitting in the main part of the court , rather than in the dock , because she suffers from arthritis . But Mruke did not testify live on Monday . Instead , the prosecution showed a video of police interviewing her . Saeeda Khan denies the charge against her . The trial is expected to last five days .
A Tanzanian -born woman is accused of keeping a slave in the United Kingdom . Khan worked for Mruke for years without pay , prosecutors say . Saeeda Khan was not allowed to go home to see her dying parents , the jury hears . Mruke denies the charges .