Indian deputy consul general arrested in US on visa fraud charges

[danger007]

I don't understand one thing cavity search in this incident??? why do they need to go for cavity search for paying less wage?? Why US cry for Human rights blah blah... what is the need of cavity search in this case??? Isn't this harassing a women or some thing??? Double standard..

 

[Star Wars]

This kind of arrest can't happen merely by accusation; there has to be some sort of supporting evidence. Evidence that isn't merely testimony, but something physical.

no where in the articles does it say there is any evidence to backup her arrest , it plainly says she has been accused , even then U.S has gone way to far with this , this isn't the first time Indian officials are being repeatedly insulted in the U.S.

 

[sincity]

I don't understand one thing cavity search in this incident??? why do they need to go for cavity search for paying less wage?? Why US cry for Human rights blah blah... what is the need of cavity search in this case??? Isn't this harassing a women or some thing??? Double standard..

Strip search during prison intake and processing period is a standard prison procedure, this procedure was in place many decades from this incident, US prison system didn't come up with this procedure to humiliate or to degrade India consulate in any shape or form.

no where in the articles does it say there is any evidence to backup her arrest , it plainly says she has been accused , even then U.S has gone way to far with this , this isn't the first time Indian officials are being repeatedly insulted in the U.S.

US justice department won't charge or arrest anyone without a proper cause with a fully investigated to the criminal case that brought forth by the accuser.

 

[adwityagrata]

As a consul her immunity is only partial and only covers her job functions, not actions she takes outside of her job.

Let me AGAIN repeat if for you.

1. Why did the US provide visa to the nanny when the visa application form she submitted specifically stated that her employers salary was 4,000 $ per month ?

It was clear from day one that the nanny would become a "SLAVE" in the US. Was the US govt. through its embassy trying to promote SLAVE trade ?

2. What action has the US govt. taken against the US embassy member who issued the visa to the nanny knowing fully well she was sanctioning "slave trade" ?

3. When the allegation of low wage was first reported, why did the US govt. not seek an explanation from the DC ?

4. When there was a specific injunction by the Indian court, why did the US govt. actively subvert the Indian judiciary and Judaical process ?

The Insult and the intent to insult is clearly established. As to her consular immunity, she has now been shifted to the UN mission where she cannot be touched by the US govt. so no point in discussing that. However for academic interest, it is clear that the crime she was accused of is NOT grave enough to warrant arrest.


You can play with all the legal mumbo jumbo you want. The reality is that is your problem. IF US decides to pursue the case against her, you can be sure that NO US consular member and their families in India will be safe from similar action.

 

[Airboss786]

another way of saying, I'm not going to issue an apology

You got that right, Dude?!

Injin's, What happened to the 'MFN'?!
Oh Plz, Do EXPLAIN & Enlighten us?!

 

[Star Wars]

US ignored requests by India to resolve Khobragade maid issue - Hindustan Times

There was a pattern to the way the US let Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade's troubles with her domestic help bubble up into the worst ever stand-off between the two countries in recent years.

It repeatedly ignored Indian requests--made simultaneously in Washington DC, New Delhi and New York--to address the issue. And when no one was looking out for it, Khobragade was arrested last week in New York soon after she dropped off her daughter at school. India alleges she was put through a humiliating "intake" drill. The US Marshals Service has said it had strip-searched Khobragade and placed her in a cell with other female defendants. It described the measures as "standard arrestee intake procedures."

Early on Thursday, US secretary of state John Kerry regretted the treatment meted out to Khobragade. "As a father of two daughters about the same age as Devyani Khobragade, the secretary empathises with the sensitivities we are hearing from India," said spokesperson Marie Harf.

Kerry conveyed his regret over Khobragade's arrest and treatment in custody in an early morning call to national security adviser Shivshankar Menon on Thursday.

That was the only time India found itself heard on the issue starting in June, when the domestic help went missing triggering a chain of events leading to her employer's arrest. Sangeeta Richard, who was brought to the US on an official passport in November 2012, sought Khobragade's permission to work elsewhere as well after a few months.

"But because she held an official Indian passport she was turned down," said a diplomatic source. She was a deemed Indian official and couldn't work for anyone else.

On June 23, Richard left home and never returned to Khobragade. The Indian consulate in New York informed the Office of Foreign Missions, a state department wing working with diplomatic and UN missions, and the New York Police Department (NYPD).

That was the first hint of trouble, but it wasn't as clear then. "Curiously," said a diplomatic source, "NYPD refused to take her complaint saying she was not family SO SHE COULDN'T." NYPD eventually did file a complaint, but after much persistence.

When asked for a response, an NYPD spokesperson said Richard's disappearance was a federal case and the department had nothing to do with it. But the matter between Khobragade and her help was not federal.

NYPD had not responded to an email sent at their request detailing the case, with questions about its refusal to react to issues raised by India till the filing of this report. That was the start of a long series of ignored requests.

The only time the Indians heard back from the US on this issue was on September 4, when the state department wrote to the embassy reproducing Richard's allegations. The letter listed Richard's complaints, and said the state department was concerned about them and that the Indian embassy should investigate them.

The next day, India's ministry for external affairs protested with the US embassy in New Delhi. In Washington, the Indian embassy protested with the state department about the "tone and content of the letter".

But, once again, there was no response. The complaints were re-communicated to the US state department in October and December eliciting no response as before.

Khobragade was arrested on December 12.

Its clear as a day the whole thing was allowed to get worse just to insult the diplomat ...

 

[Fattyacids]

You got that right, Dude?!

Injin's, What happened to the 'MFN'?!
Oh Plz, Do EXPLAIN & Enlighten us?!

What is Injin?

MFN is like giving financial aid.

 

[sincity]

Partially immune mean India deputy of consulate general is a dead fish ready to be deep fry.

 

[truthlover]

Tearful Indian diplomat tells of invasive US body probe | GlobalPost

Tearful Indian diplomat tells of invasive US body probe
A female Indian diplomat told how she broke down in tears after being arrested, stripped and cavity-searched in New York, as the US embassy became the focus Wednesday of outrage at her treatment.

Devyani Khobragade, the deputy consul general in New York, described how she endured "repeated handcuffing, stripping and cavity searches" after her arrest which has sparked a series of diplomatic reprisals from India.

Nationalist protestors were due to gather at the American embassy in New Delhi to vent their anger, the day after mechanical diggers and tow-trucks removed security barricades from outside the mission.

Rattled by the scale of the anger in India, the US State Department sought to calm tensions and said the arrest last Thursday should not be allowed to damage bilateral relations.

The Indian media meanwhile hailed the government for its strong line as Khobragade's case dominated television news bulletins, in the build-up to national elections.

In an email to colleagues published by the media, Khobragade said she stressed to arresting authorities that she had diplomatic immunity only to suffer repeated searches and jailed with "common criminals".

"I must admit that I broke down many times as the indignities of repeated handcuffing, stripping and cavity searches, swabbing, in a hold-up with common criminals and drug addicts were all being imposed upon me despite my incessant assertions of immunity," she said in the email published in the Times of India.

"I got the strength to regain composure and remain dignified thinking that I must represent all of my colleagues and my country with confidence and pride," she added.

Khobragade was arrested as she dropped her children at school for allegedly underpaying her Indian domestic helper, and for lying on the helper's visa application form.

The arrest touches a number of hot buttons in India, where fear of public humiliation, particularly among the middle and upper classes, resonates deeply, and pay and conditions for servants is kept mostly private.

In New York in 2011, an Indian diplomat was accused of treating his domestic helper as a "slave" by forcing her to work long hours for $300 a month, confiscating her passport and making her sleep in a closet. India backed the diplomat and expressed disappointment over his treatment.

Protesters from the hardline nationalist outfit the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) have organised a rally outside the embassy later Wednesday.

State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf admitted it was a "sensitive issue" but insisted it was a "separate and isolated incident" which should not "be tied together" and allowed to affect broader US-Indian ties.

Harf added that as a consular official, Khobragade does not have full diplomatic immunity, but has consular immunity applicable only to her professional duties.

The diplomat's treatment has been widely condemned by the Indian media, with front-page headlines reflecting the sense of outrage.

As well as removing the barricades around the embassy, authorities in Delhi have also demanded that US consular officials return identity cards that speed up travel into and through India and halted import clearances for the embassy, including for alcohol.

With the elections just months away in India, both the ruling Congress party and the main opposition are keen to be seen as standing up to the United States over the issue.

"India takes on Uncle Sam," read the front-page headline of The Hindustan Times, while the Mail Today splashed with "Bulldozer Diplomacy" on top of a picture of a digger outside the US embassy.

The Times of India said that Khobragade's arrest had been "downright humiliating" and said the United States was guilty of hypocrisy.

"There are double standards at play here, as US authorities would not have flouted protocol similarly if the accused had been Chinese or British," it said in an editorial.

"For that matter, what would US reaction have been if their diplomats had been subjected to similar treatment abroad for alleged minor transgressions of local legislation?"

tha-co/jit

Now please pull down the pants of an american ambassador in new delhi and put some cruel indian red pepper in his anal cavity.This is the only language these pathetic people understand.

 

[Solomon2]

no where in the articles does it say there is any evidence to backup her arrest -

Sure it does: false documentation. I imagine that if the DC signed off on the A-3 application while her domestic could show the State Dept. her employer contract that says she was really being paid less, that would be enough to set the process in motion.

 

[Star Wars]

Sure it does: false documentation. I imagine that if the DC signed off on the A-3 application while her domestic could show the State Dept. her employer contract that says she was really being paid less, that would be enough to set the process in motion.

If thats the case then why did U.S ignore to resolve the issue all this time as in post above you ? Trust me , half the U.S diplomats in India will be in prison if every crime like this is used to insult a country ...

 

[adwityagrata]

Sure it does: false documentation. I imagine that if the DC signed off on the A-3 application while her domestic could show the State Dept. her employer contract that says she was really being paid less, that would be enough to set the process in motion.

You say such things because of your ignorance.

Every single mid and senior diplomats to the US are from the IFS . They would be smart enough NEVER to lie on any document that can incriminate them directly. In fact, before doing so, they would be coached, advice and counselled by a set of very professional people about everything they need to know about the host nation.

The A-2 visa was filled by the nanny and NOT by the diplomat.

Here is a link to help you understand what the IFS service is : Indian Foreign Service - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Solomon2]

Every single mid and senior diplomats to the US are from the IFS . They would be smart enough NEVER to lie on any document that can incriminate them directly.

Everyone knows this DC keeps insisting she has immunity when in this matter she does not. How smart is that?

The A-2 visa was filled by the nanny and NOT by the diplomat.

I forget whether the consul has to sign the domestic's A-3 visa form, but if not then I'm pretty sure the consul had to send a "diplomatic note" over to the State Dept. confirming the truth of it.

...if every crime like this is used to insult a country ...

The U.S. action was focused on the diplomat, not India as a country. Somebody else made the decision to characterize it as an insult: perhaps the DC herself to obscure her guilt and incompetence, or else one of her colleagues who felt his or her own lifestyle/perks threatened. Do you really think such people serve India well?

 

[adwityagrata]

Everyone knows this DC keeps insisting she has immunity when in this matter she does not. How smart is that?

She keeps insisting she has immunity because she is smart enough to know that she has immunity. It is a separate issue that the US has willfully denied her that consular immunity. In any case it is pretty smart as it stands to expose the US conduct and actions.

I forget whether the consul has to sign the domestic's A-3 visa form, but if not then I'm pretty sure the consul had to send a "diplomatic note" over to the State Dept. confirming the truth of it.

It is a A-2 visa which was provided to the nanny, not a A-3.

Which consul sent the diplomatic note to state dept confirming what ?

 

[adwityagrata]

The U.S. action was focused on the diplomat, not India as a country. Somebody else made the decision to characterize it as an insult: perhaps the DC herself to obscure her guilt and incompetence, or else one of her colleagues who felt his or her own lifestyle/perks threatened. Do you really think such people serve India well?

The diplomat represents India as a country in the US.

Any action against her is an action against India. The DC does not have to make any such claim, this is understood and recognized by all Indians.

Your slanderous claim about her guilt or incompetence and such similar nasty comments about her colleagues is irrelevant to our judgement. You as an American is not in ANY Moral position to exert moral authority or make moral judgement on others.

As to the question as to if she can serve India well, I think she is a genuine Indian Hero and deserves very support and credit she can get. So Yes, she can serve India well.