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Former Member

NEW DELHI (AP) — The arrest and alleged strip search of an Indian diplomat in New York City escalated into a major diplomatic furor Tuesday as India's national security adviser called the woman's treatment "despicable and barbaric."

Devyani Khobragade, India's deputy consul general in New York, is accused of submitting false documents to obtain a work visa for her Manhattan housekeeper. Indian officials said she was arrested and handcuffed Thursday as she dropped off her daughter at school, and was kept in a cell with drug addicts before posting $250,000 bail.

A senior Indian official confirmed reports that she also was strip-searched, which has been portrayed in India as the most offensive and troubling part of the arrest.

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Former Member

People might attack Embassy. They removed barricades.

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India-US row over arrest of diplomat Devyani Khobragade escalates

Indian MPs refuse to meet American delegates in reprisal for 'barbaric treatment' of envoy.

Bulldozer in front of the US embassy in New Delhi

A bulldozer removes a barricade outside the US embassy in New Delhi, as India launched a series of reprisals against the US over a diplomat's arrest in New York. Photograph: Findlay Kember/AFP/Getty Images

Bulldozers have removed security barriers outside the US embassy in Delhi as a diplomatic row prompted by the arrest of an Indian diplomat on visa fraud charges in New York intensified.

Devyani Khobragade, India's deputy consul general in New York, was charged last week with making false statements on an application for her housekeeper to live and work in the United States.

India's national security adviser on Tuesday called the treatment of Khobragade "despicable and barbaric" and the country's foreign secretary summoned the US ambassador. Politicians – including Rahul Gandhi, the scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty and vice chairman of the ruling Congress party, and Narendra Modi, the prime ministerial candidate of the Hindu nationalist opposition BJP – refused to meet a visiting US congressional delegation.

The removal of the barriers was one of a slew of retaliatory actions taken by the Indian government as outrage at the arrest grew, including the withdrawal of import clearances and special airport passes. The incident has become a major story in India, dominating TV bulletins.

The arrest of Khobragade touches on a range of sensitivities in India. Special official privileges – such as the right to use a red beacon light on an official car are minutely graded and valued in India. Unofficial privileges of the wealthy and powerful – such as the ability to "settle" police inquiries without publicity – are equally well-entrenched.

Much of the criticism in India of the arrest has focused on how Khobragade was treated as a "common criminal". According to Indian officials, Khobragade was arrested and handcuffed as she dropped off her daughter at school, then strip-searched and kept in a cell with drug addicts before posting $250,000 (£153,000) bail.

India is also acutely sensitive to its international image and status. Far less serious incidents have provoked major clashes in the past. Standard security checks in the US frequently make front-page news in India when they involve visiting dignitaries, who are ushered through airports as VIPs in their own country.

12/17/134:01 PM

antabantawild wild wicked and wild

What's the difference between a common criminal and a non-common criminal?

12/17/134:38 PM

SunilAdmin

She was paying her nanny $3/hr

https://guyana.crowdstack.io/topic/in...-paid-her-nanny-3-hr

12/17/137:57 PM

Former Member

Don't get arrested in NY, you will get feel up and probed!

Repeated cavity searches? Looking for hidden visa applications no doubt

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By far the most troubling part for Indians are assertions that Ms. Khobragade, 39, was strip-searched after her arrest. Some Indian newspapers published reports claiming that she was subjected to repeated cavity searches. The Indian national security adviser, Shivshankar Menon, has called such treatment “despicable” and “barbaric.”

The United States Marshals Service, in a statement, confirmed that Ms. Khobragade had been strip-searched, following “the same search procedures as other U.S.M.S. arrestees held within the general prisoner population in the Southern District of New York.” It said she was “placed in the available and appropriate cell.”

Indian officials, in addition to removing the maze of concrete security barriers surrounding the American Embassy compound, Indian news reports said, have demanded that the embassy provide details about all the Indians it employs, as well as the names and salaries of teachers at the American Embassy School; that the embassy commissary stop importing liquor;

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No more liquor? D2 will have to get his brick out

12/18/137:07 AM

Former Member

Originally Posted by TI:

Don't get arrested in NY, you will get feel up and probed!

Repeated cavity searches? Looking for hidden visa applications no doubt

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No more liquor? D2 will have to get his brick out

the Indians are just huffing and puffing. The are ashamed the lady's woman's right provenance was destroyed by this revelation that she was gouging her domestic workers. Note, this is not the first time.

The last time the Indian government let the perp ( vastly more horrible than this one) slip away and so avoided the embarrassment. They did nothing to sanction her on her return nor did their press pick up on the story of her abuse and shame her.

But then it is India where there is the largest conglomeration of slave workers, child laborers and other odious habits that the government is slow to address.

The embassy workers have diplomatic immunity so they come in unsearced so I do not think liquor will be a problem.

12/18/1311:53 AM

Former Member

The behavior of the indian politicians over this issue may have more to do with India's image in Western media involving the rape of several European female tourists in India. India has to realize this. Its survival in today's world depends on backup protection from the USA. Particularly, its air defences in the north. Petty stuff like this issue should not disrupt the relationship between India and the United States.

12/18/1312:03 PM

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People might attack Embassy. They removed barricades.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

India-US row over arrest of diplomat Devyani Khobragade escalates

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