New Delhi: The Saudi Diplomat who is accused of sexually abusing and torturing two nepali girls working in his flat in Gurgaon as domestic help, has, along with his family taken shelter in the Saudi Embassy out of reach of Indian authorities as it is deemed Saudi territory.
The Saudi diplomat has been booked under several Indian Penal Code sections including 376 D (gangrape), 376 (rape), 377 and (unnatural offence).
The MEA has asked the Saudi Government through its Ambassador to waive diplomatic immunity and allow the police to question the diplomat, to take its investigation further. The Saudi Authorities have so far not agreed to the request terming the charges as baseless.
The Vienna Convention, an international treaty, offers blanket immunity to the embassy staff in a receiving state. Under the Convention, his family and private residence cannot be touched by the host government either.
The Vienna Convention explains that blanket immunity is “is not to benefit individuals but to ensure the efficient performance of the functions of diplomatic missions as representing States.”
The alternative to cooperation is being expelled from both Nepal and India.
The Saudi diplomat has been booked under several Indian Penal Code sections including 376 D (gangrape), 376 (rape), 377 and (unnatural offence).
But countries rarely leave their diplomats to be prosecuted in a foreign country. In 2004, the British police accused the then Saudi ambassador to Britain, Prince Turki al-Faisal, of blocking an investigation into claims that a diplomat molested an 11-year-old girl. The Saudis refused to waive the diplomat’s immunity, saying embassy staff were conducting an internal enquiry.
In 2013, India threw its muscle behind Devyani Khobragade, a consular official, who was arrested by the United States government for allegedly submitting false documents to obtain a work visa for her female housekeeper, and paying her less than minimum wages in the U.S.
This case requires to be handled with tact, balancing the equations India has with Nepal and Saudi Arabia.
