Indian deputy consul general arrested in US on visa fraud charges

[MilSpec]

The impression created is that India's diplomats only care about their own sensitivities, not those of their countrymen who they are supposed to represent.

have you followed any of Indian media's reaction, due coverage to the maids family has been given,

 

[sincity]

She is not going to appear in court.

A defendant doesn't have a full immunity as a diplomat or consulate general, she have a partial immunity for deputy consulate, she bind to the US criminal law, she want to move to UN therefore the US law enforcement can't arrest her and force her to appear in court.

 

[Solomon2]

When did media start declaring guilty...

It doesn't have to do with the media but with the judgment of the diplomatic fraternity. The only jobs left to them will be low-level ones that involve no contact with foreign diplomats. No career advancement possible. That's usually not enough to justify the expense of stationing them overseas, so they'll be fired or recalled.

 

[Sunny009]

A defendant doesn't have a full immunity as a diplomat or consulate general, she have a partial immunity for deputy consulate, she bind to the US criminal law, she want to move to UN therefore the US law enforcement can't arrest her and force her to appear in court.

Why don't you just wait for few days and see what happens, instead of blabbering off on what you think US justice department will do? She'll be given full diplomatic immunity, you'll see.

 

[MilSpec]

It doesn't have to do with the media but with the judgment of the diplomatic fraternity. The only jobs left to them will be low-level ones that involve no contact with foreign diplomats. No career advancement possible. That's usually not enough to justify the expense of stationing them overseas, so they'll be fired or recalled.

What if Indian side wins the case? still should the diplomat be reprimanded due alleged perception of the fraternity?

 

[kbd-raaf]

A defendant doesn't have a full immunity as a diplomat or consulate general, she have a partial immunity for deputy consulate, she bind to the US criminal law, she want to move to UN therefore the US law enforcement can't arrest her and force her to appear in court.

You need a little bit more coherence in your statements. I don't understand what you're trying to say.

 

[sincity]

Why don't you just wait for few days and see what happens instead of blabbering what you think US justice department will do? She'll be given full diplomatic immunity, you'll see.

US justice department already indicted the defendant, US justice department can subpoena US State department to give deposition on why a defendant allow to transfer to UN, without justifiable cause anyone involved can be charge with obstructing justice by the US justice department. US justice department superseded all jurisdiction in the US.

 

[SrNair]

India offering support to a criminal is disgusting.

If she is criminal we will take care of that.Russians cheated Americans and US cant do nothing about that.We are not russians.But whether right or not she represent India in US.We dont care she is criminal in this case,even if she is criminal.

 

[sincity]

You need a little bit more coherence in your statements. I don't understand what you're trying to say.

A defendant want to transfer over to UN and to escaped all the charge levy on her, within a defendant right not to appear in court if she in UN mission. US law enforcement have no authority to force her to appear in court to face charge. That what the India government want to do but US state department hold the decision on this matter and not what the India government wish.

 

[fallstuff]

It doesn't have to do with the media but with the judgment of the diplomatic fraternity. The only jobs left to them will be low-level ones that involve no contact with foreign diplomats. No career advancement possible. That's usually not enough to justify the expense of stationing them overseas, so they'll be fired or recalled.

You are wrong. Indian Govt always knew what was going on, had Delhi Court going after the maid and the family.

India was given the opportunity to withdraw her back in September, India didn't pay heed to that.

 

[sms]

Updates....

The diplomat’s lawyer, Daniel Arshack, on Monday alleged the investigators got it all wrong, mistaking $4,500 on Richard’s visa application as her monthly salary, when, in fact, it was what her employer, Khobragade, would be making.

Mark Smith, the Bureau of Diplomatic Security agent who processed the arrest and drew up the affidavit, said the lawyer, “simply made an error” in reading Richard’s visa form -- the DS 160.

“He erroneously read the $4,500 a month salary entry on the form as the domestic worker's expected salary when, in fact, it was clearly a reporting of the base salary to be earned by the diplomat in the United States,” said Arshack.

That figure was mentioned in Richard’s visa application only to assure US embassy consular service officials, he added, that Khobragade would be drawing enough to pay Richard the $1,560 a month promised to her in the contract submitted with her DS160.

In a complaint filed in a New York federal court, Agent Smith had alleged that Richard worked “far more” than 40 hours a week, and was paid less than $9.75 an hour.

In fact, the agent alleged, the housekeeper was paid even less than the amount that was promised to her in the oral agreement, the second contract: Rs. 30,000 at $3.31 an hour.

That was roughly $570 a month, still about $1,000 short.

Arshack claimed Khobragade paid $570 “directly to her husband as per the second contract”. “The balance of her income (about $1,000 per month) was paid directly to her in New York,” the lawyer said, adding, “There was no money withheld from her.”

 

[Beidou2020]

I agree, to India pride is more important than justice. I have written off India, that nation is destined to remain a sorry mess until people change their attitude.

It's the corruption capital of the world. Combine that corruption with their famous IQ and you have what you have over there.

 

[SirHatesALot]

Americans are too Noble for us,we need to stay away.

 

[Sashan]

@sms - do you have the link to the above?

 

[favabeans]

Outrage should be over rapes in India, not US strip search of diplomat

Outrage should be over rapes in India, not US strip search of diplomat

It is ironic that in a country where rapes are as common as summer leaves on trees, the government, police and a significant number of the general population in India have reacted so strongly because one of their female diplomats was strip-searched by a female US deputy marshal.

In the latest protest against the arrest and search of Devyani Khobragade, a Domino's Pizza outlet in a Mumbai suburb came under attack and was looted by members of an Indian political group, Friday, NBC News reported.

No one was hurt, but the Republican Party of India, the perpetrators of the attack, dutifully sent pictures showing a broken glass door at the Domino's and demanded the US drop the charges against Khobragade.

The diplomat was arrested last week in Manhattan and charged with submitting false documents to obtain a work visa for her housekeeper, who, according to The Guardian and NBC News, she allegedly pays less than $3 an hour.

Khobragade has pleaded not guilty.

It seems to me that a strip search was excessive, but the reaction in India where, especially in the rural areas where rape is if not condoned then certainly tolerated, has also been excessive.

“(In rural India) women’s families face social pressure not to report rapes, police are apathetic about such crimes and deep caste inequalities provide cover to men who sexually abuse women of lower standing,” the Washington Post reported in January.

From 2001 to 2011, the number of reported rapes rose 50 per cent, and in 2011 the figure was 23,582 and the police said the incidents continue to rise, the Washington Post reported.

To be fair, general protests in cities about rapes have seen authorities take a harder line there.

But it is incongruous that Indian lawmakers would use words like “despicable” and “barbaric” to describe the treatment of their diplomat by their US counterparts, as quoted by NBC News, with the significant number of rapes occurring in their own backyard.

On Tuesday, police in New Delhi removed security barriers around the US Embassy, NBC reported.

Now there is a recipe for trouble, since the barriers were there to safeguard against threats from suicide bombers.

Meanwhile, Khobragade has challenged the arrest on the grounds of diplomatic immunity, but US State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf told The Associated Press that only applies to consular functions, NBC reported.

And New York prosecutors said she claimed to pay her maid over $4,500 a month but in fact the housekeeper was paid far less than the US minimum wage, NBC reported.

If that proves to be the truth, it is difficult to feel any sympathy for Khobragade.

And India would do well to tackle its contemptible treatment of women and abhorrent rape problem rather than wasting time and energy on the strip search of one female.

Or maybe this is like the case of the man who repeatedly kicked his dog, but was irate when someone else did it.

Sources:

NBC News: Slice of revenge: Dominos in India ransacked amid diplomat spat with US - World News

The Guardian: US prosecutor defends arrest and strip-search of Indian diplomat | World news | theguardian.com
The Washington Post: In rural India, rapes are common, but justice for victims is not - The Washington Post

NBC News: India blocks cheap booze for US diplomats after envoy's arrest and strip-search in NYC - World News