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Saudi, Nepal pile 'rape' pressure on Delhi
New Delhi, Sept. 9: India was today buffeted by opposing pressure from Riyadh and Kathmandu over the alleged rape of two Nepalese women by a Saudi diplomat, its options limited by international law, its own track record and Riyadh's clout.
The foreign office also faced embarrassment after it emerged that it could have averted Gurgaon police's violation of diplomatic immunity rules in rescuing the women, a breach that is now Saudi Arabia's strongest charge against the investigators.
By evening, Nepal was insisting that the women were victims, while Saudi Arabia had rejected the allegations.
The Saudi diplomat and his wife - accused of assaulting the women - were expected to fly out of New Delhi soon, officials said, and the Nepalese women might also return to their homes tomorrow.
"The allegations are serious and if this happened, it is very sad," Nepal's ambassador to India, Deep Kumar Upadhyay, told The Telegraph at the country's mission here.
"But we will wait for the outcome of the investigations, and we have faith that India will act appropriately."
Two hours later, Saudi Arabian ambassador Saud Mohamed Alsati arrived at the foreign ministry headquarters along with the accused diplomat, a first secretary rank officer, and a team of other officials to proclaim that Riyadh was the victim.
Alsati met Thanglura Darlong, joint secretary in charge of India's relations with the Gulf, and complained against the "unwarranted" Gurgaon police decision to brief journalists about the case "before investigations are complete".
"The embassy," Saudi Arabia's mission here said in a statement this evening, "has also protested the police intrusion into a diplomat's house against all diplomatic conventions."
The Gurgaon apartment where the women were being kept had been rented formally by the Saudi embassy, and the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations extends immunity to the premises and property of missions and their diplomats.
"The private residence of a diplomatic agent shall enjoy the same inviolability and protection as the premises of the mission," Article 30 of the convention states.
It has emerged that the Nepalese embassy, which had helped an NGO and the police carry out the raid, had alerted India's foreign office beforehand. South Block therefore had the opportunity of identifying the apartment as Saudi embassy property, preventing a police raid and informing the Saudi embassy. But it did not.
Saudi Arabia has rejected the charges of rape and physical assault.
"The embassy strongly stresses that these allegations are false and have not been proven," the Saudi Arabian mission's statement said, while seeking a "clarification" from the foreign office and adding that it would "wait for the outcome of the investigations".
Under the Vienna diplomatic immunity norms, the only way the accused diplomat or his wife can even be physically questioned - leave alone detained or arrested - is if Alsati waives their immunity. The Vienna immunity rules cover diplomats' spouses.
But Riyadh's rejection of even a suggestion that its diplomat could be in the wrong implies it has little intention of waiving the immunity.
Asked if Nepal would appeal to Saudi Arabia seeking such a waiver, Upadhyay said Kathmandu would instead leave the task to New Delhi.
"It is not for us to seek a waiver and the question does not arise at the moment, till the investigation is complete," the Nepal ambassador said. "Till now, I haven't even spoken to the Saudi Arabian ambassador about this case."
India's history with cases against its own diplomats abroad makes it hard for New Delhi to press Riyadh for a waiver.
In December 2013, India had cited the Vienna convention to demand the dropping of all charges against diplomat Devyani Khobragade, accused of violating visa norms and mistreating her children's nanny.
Earlier this year, India recalled its high commissioner in New Zealand, Ravi Thapar, after allegations that he and his wife had ill-treated a cook working at their residence in Wellington.
In these and a series of other instances, mostly in the US, India has never agreed to even consider waiving its diplomats' immunity.
Besides, oil-rich Saudi Arabia wields enormous influence within the diplomatic world.
A Saudi diplomat in London was earlier this year accused of trafficking two women and treating them as sex slaves but got away without even paying compensation by virtue of his diplomatic immunity.
Other Saudi diplomats in Britain have faced charges of rape, molestation, bribing a London police officer and the possession of illegal narcotics. At least two Saudi Arabian diplomats have been accused of murder in the US. Neither has faced trial.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1150910/jsp/nation/story_41779.jsp#.VfEWSfmqqko
New Delhi, Sept. 9: India was today buffeted by opposing pressure from Riyadh and Kathmandu over the alleged rape of two Nepalese women by a Saudi diplomat, its options limited by international law, its own track record and Riyadh's clout.
The foreign office also faced embarrassment after it emerged that it could have averted Gurgaon police's violation of diplomatic immunity rules in rescuing the women, a breach that is now Saudi Arabia's strongest charge against the investigators.
By evening, Nepal was insisting that the women were victims, while Saudi Arabia had rejected the allegations.
The Saudi diplomat and his wife - accused of assaulting the women - were expected to fly out of New Delhi soon, officials said, and the Nepalese women might also return to their homes tomorrow.
"The allegations are serious and if this happened, it is very sad," Nepal's ambassador to India, Deep Kumar Upadhyay, told The Telegraph at the country's mission here.
"But we will wait for the outcome of the investigations, and we have faith that India will act appropriately."
Two hours later, Saudi Arabian ambassador Saud Mohamed Alsati arrived at the foreign ministry headquarters along with the accused diplomat, a first secretary rank officer, and a team of other officials to proclaim that Riyadh was the victim.
Alsati met Thanglura Darlong, joint secretary in charge of India's relations with the Gulf, and complained against the "unwarranted" Gurgaon police decision to brief journalists about the case "before investigations are complete".
"The embassy," Saudi Arabia's mission here said in a statement this evening, "has also protested the police intrusion into a diplomat's house against all diplomatic conventions."
The Gurgaon apartment where the women were being kept had been rented formally by the Saudi embassy, and the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations extends immunity to the premises and property of missions and their diplomats.
"The private residence of a diplomatic agent shall enjoy the same inviolability and protection as the premises of the mission," Article 30 of the convention states.
It has emerged that the Nepalese embassy, which had helped an NGO and the police carry out the raid, had alerted India's foreign office beforehand. South Block therefore had the opportunity of identifying the apartment as Saudi embassy property, preventing a police raid and informing the Saudi embassy. But it did not.
Saudi Arabia has rejected the charges of rape and physical assault.
"The embassy strongly stresses that these allegations are false and have not been proven," the Saudi Arabian mission's statement said, while seeking a "clarification" from the foreign office and adding that it would "wait for the outcome of the investigations".
Under the Vienna diplomatic immunity norms, the only way the accused diplomat or his wife can even be physically questioned - leave alone detained or arrested - is if Alsati waives their immunity. The Vienna immunity rules cover diplomats' spouses.
But Riyadh's rejection of even a suggestion that its diplomat could be in the wrong implies it has little intention of waiving the immunity.
Asked if Nepal would appeal to Saudi Arabia seeking such a waiver, Upadhyay said Kathmandu would instead leave the task to New Delhi.
"It is not for us to seek a waiver and the question does not arise at the moment, till the investigation is complete," the Nepal ambassador said. "Till now, I haven't even spoken to the Saudi Arabian ambassador about this case."
India's history with cases against its own diplomats abroad makes it hard for New Delhi to press Riyadh for a waiver.
In December 2013, India had cited the Vienna convention to demand the dropping of all charges against diplomat Devyani Khobragade, accused of violating visa norms and mistreating her children's nanny.
Earlier this year, India recalled its high commissioner in New Zealand, Ravi Thapar, after allegations that he and his wife had ill-treated a cook working at their residence in Wellington.
In these and a series of other instances, mostly in the US, India has never agreed to even consider waiving its diplomats' immunity.
Besides, oil-rich Saudi Arabia wields enormous influence within the diplomatic world.
A Saudi diplomat in London was earlier this year accused of trafficking two women and treating them as sex slaves but got away without even paying compensation by virtue of his diplomatic immunity.
Other Saudi diplomats in Britain have faced charges of rape, molestation, bribing a London police officer and the possession of illegal narcotics. At least two Saudi Arabian diplomats have been accused of murder in the US. Neither has faced trial.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1150910/jsp/nation/story_41779.jsp#.VfEWSfmqqko