India’s information minister lashed out at the United States on Friday and demanded an apology for the treatment of a diplomat who was arrested in New York, saying U.S. cannot behave “atrociously” and get away with it.
The Dec. 13 arrest and strip-search of Devyani Khobragade, India’s deputy consul general in New York, has sparked a diplomatic storm between the United States and India. U.S. prosecutors say Khobragade lied on a visa form about how much she paid her housekeeper and actually paid her around $3 per hour. The diplomat has pleaded not guilty.
India has said the strip-search was degrading and unnecessary. The U.S. Marshals service said it is standard procedure. But in India, such treatment for an educated, middle-class woman is almost unimaginable.
“The fact is that American authorities have behaved atrociously with an Indian diplomat, and obviously America has to make good for its actions,” Information Minister Manish Tewari told reporters. “I think it’s a legitimate expectation that if they have erred — and they have erred grievously in this matter — they should come forth and apologize.”
The case has become major news in India, touching on issues of class, status and the rights of domestic workers. The two sides of the case have offered starkly different accounts of what happened. Khobragade says she’s being targeted by a vindictive housekeeper. The housekeeper, meanwhile, says she was overworked and underpaid and needed to escape.
About two dozen protesters gathered outside the Consulate General of India in New York in support of the housekeeper, carrying signs saying “Justice for domestic workers: hold diplomats accountable” and “Overworked, underpaid.”
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has expressed regret over the incident. State Department officials have declined to provide details about the case, citing law enforcement restrictions that prevent them from discussing it. They say they are still trying to assess what occurred.
But U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said earlier this week that Khobragade was treated well, and questioned why there was more sympathy in India for the diplomat than the housekeeper.
Khobragade is accused of submitting false documents to obtain a work visa for the housekeeper. According to prosecutors, she claimed she paid the woman $4,500 a month, but actually paid her around $3 per hour. She could face a maximum sentence of 10 years for visa fraud and five years for making a false declaration if convicted.
On Friday, the diplomat’s father, Uttam, said his daughter treated the housekeeper, Sangeeta Richard, like a member of the family. He said Richard had Sundays off and was free to attend church and visit her friends.
He filed a lawsuit in India earlier this year on his daughter’s behalf, saying Richard was wrongly accusing his daughter of treating her like a slave.
But Richard’s lawyer said Thursday that the housekeeper worked from morning until late at night, seven days week, for less than $3 an hour. Unable to get better pay, she made sure Khobragade’s two children were cared for one day and walked out, lawyer Dana Sussman said.
From that moment on, Sussman said, Richard relied on the kindness of strangers within the Indian community in New York City, and even was looked after at one point by a Sikh temple. She eventually connected with the nonprofit group Safe Horizon, which has an anti-trafficking program.
“She was basically just trying to find her way. She was left with the clothes on her back, with very little money,” Sussman said.
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