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Strip-searched Indian diplomat: I was treated like a common criminal by US
Strip-searched Indian diplomat: I was treated like a common criminal by US
(about 3 hours later)
An Indian diplomat described how she broke down as US authorities subjected her to a strip search, cavity search and DNA swabbing after her arrest on visa charges in New York, despite her "incessant assertions of immunity".
An Indian diplomat was subjected to strip and cavity searches and treated like a "common criminal" by US authorities, it has been alleged.
The case involving Devyani Khobragade, India's deputy consul general in New York, has prompted widespread outrage in India and infuriated the Delhi government, which revoked privileges for US diplomats in protest against her treatment. It has cast a pall over India-US relations, which have cooled in recent years despite a 2008 nuclear deal that was hailed as a high point in the countries' ties.
Devyani Khobragade, India's deputy consul general in New York, was arrested last Thursday on charges that she lied in a visa application. The row over her treatment while in custody has led to a cooling of relations between the two countries, with India revoking some privileges for US diplomats in retaliation.
The US secretary of state, John Kerry, called a top Indian official on Wednesdayto express his regret.
"I broke down many times as the indignities of repeated handcuffing, stripping and cavity searches, swabbing, in a holdup with common criminals and drug addicts were all being imposed upon me despite my incessant assertions of immunity," Khobragade wrote in an email published in Indian media on Wednesday.
"As a father of two daughters about the same age as Devyani Khobragade, the secretary empathises with the sensitivities we are hearing from India about the events that unfolded after Ms Khobragade's arrest," said state department spokeswoman Marie Harf. "In his conversation with national security adviser (Shivshankar) Menon, he expressed his regret, as well as his concern that we not allow this unfortunate public issue to hurt our close and vital relationship with India."
The US secretary of state, John Kerry, has expressed his regret over what Indian officials called the "despicable and barbaric" treatment of their consul. State Department spokesman Marie Harf said that Kerry called India's national security adviser, Shivshankar Menon. She said Mr Kerry believed was important for foreign diplomats serving in the United States to be treated with respect, the Associated Press reported. Kerry, she added, expressed his hope the incident would not damage the close relationship betwee the US and India.
Khobragade was arrested on Thursday outside her daughter's Manhattan school on charges that she lied on a visa application about how much she paid her housekeeper, an Indian national.
India's parliament has issued a statement condemning the United States over the affair.
Prosecutors say the maid received less than $3 (£1.80) per hour for her work.
Khobragade was arrested outside her daughter's Manhattan school over accusations of submitting false documents to obtain a work visa for her maid. Prosecutors allege she claimed to pay the maid $4,500 per month (£2,740), but that she actually paid her less than $3 per hour. Khobragade has pleaded not guilty and plans to challenge the arrest on grounds of diplomatic immunity.
In an email published in Indian media on Wednesday, Khobragade said she was treated like a common criminal. "I broke down many times as the indignities of repeated handcuffing, stripping and cavity searches, swabbing, in a holdup with common criminals and drug addicts were all being imposed upon me, despite my incessant assertions of immunity," she wrote.
The development is the latest in what has been reported as a long-running dispute between Khobragade and her maid. If convicted Khobragade faces a maximum sentence of 10 years for visa fraud and five years for making a false declaration.
An Indian official confirmed that the email was authentic, and said India's priority now was to get Khobragade home.
Khobragade has now been transferred to India's mission to the United Nations, according to the Associated Press.
"India's top demand right now is: return our diplomat," he said, adding that Khobragade, who was released on $250,000 (£150,000) bail, would have to report to police in New York every week.
The case has sparked widespread outrage in India and damaged relations between the two nations, which have cooled in recent years despite a 2008 nuclear deal that was hailed as a high point.
Khobragade's case has touched a nerve in India, where the fear of public humiliation resonates strongly and heavy-handed treatment by the police is normally reserved for the poor. For an educated, middle-class woman to face public arrest and a strip search is almost unimaginable, except in the most brutal crimes.
The Indian government has demanded an apology. And, according to the Times of India, foreign minister Salman Khurshid told reporters in New Delhi: "We have put in motion what we believe would be an effective way of addressing the issue but also [put] in motion such steps that need to be taken to protect her dignity."
Prosecutors say Khobragade claimed on visa application documents that she paid her Indian maid $4,500 a month, but that she actually paid her less than $3 an hour. Khobragade has pleaded not guilty and plans to challenge the arrest on grounds of diplomatic immunity.
India also revoked diplomatic ID cards that brought certain privileges, demanded to know the salaries paid to Indian staff in US embassy households and withdrew some import licences.
Marie Harf, the US state department deputy spokeswoman, said Khobragade did not have full diplomatic immunity. Instead, she has consular immunity from the jurisdiction of US courts only with respect to acts performed in the exercise of consular functions.
In addition police removed the traffic barricades near the US embassy in New Delhi. The barriers were a safety measure but India said they clogged up traffic, the Associated Press reported.
If convicted, Khobragade faces a maximum sentence of 10 years for visa fraud and five years for making a false declaration.
The US Marshals Service confirmed it had strip-searched Khobragade and placed her in a cell with other female defendants. It described the measures as "standard arrestee intake procedures".
India has retaliated against US diplomats with measures that included revoking diplomat ID cards that brought certain privileges, demanding to know the salaries paid to Indian staff in US embassy households and withdrawing import licences that allowed the commissary at the US embassy to import alcohol and food.
The White House spokesman Jay Carney said "this isolated episode is not indicative of the close and mutually respectful ties" between the US and India.
Police also removed the traffic barricades near the US embassy in Delhi in retaliation for Khobragade's treatment. The barriers were a safety measure but India said they clogged up traffic.
"We understand that this is a sensitive issue for many in India and we are looking into the intake procedures surrounding this arrest to ensure that all standard procedures were followed and that every opportunity for courtesy was extended," Carney said at a briefing on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, dozens of people protested outside the US embassy in Delhi, saying Khobragade's treatment was an insult to all Indian women.
In Delhi, the lower house of parliament had to be temporarily adjourned after politicians noisily demanded that it adopt a resolution against the US.
The prime minister, Manmohan Singh, described Khobragade's treatment as deplorable.
Arun Jaitely, leader of the opposition in the upper house, said the government had to register its "strongest protest" to the US government for the "lack of respect for India". He called for a review of India's relations with the United States, a demand that was vociferously seconded by many politicians.
The commerce minister, Anand Sharma, said the arrest was a "matter of national outrage". He promised angry politicians that the government would make an official statement in parliament on the incident.
Harf said on Tuesday that federal authorities would work on the issue with India.
"We understand that this is a sensitive issue for many in India," she said. "Accordingly, we are looking into the intake procedures surrounding this arrest to ensure that all appropriate procedures were followed and every opportunity for courtesy was extended."
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