One wonders why there is so much outrage about the alleged treatment of the Indian national accused of perpetrating these acts but precious little outrage about the alleged treatment of the Indian victim and her spouse.
These words come from US Attorney Preet Bharara about the arrest of India’s deputy consul here, Devyani Khobragade.
News of the arrest, and her strip search (which Bharara says is “standard practice”) has enraged the government back in New Delhi. Khobragade was arrested last week by State Department agents on charges she submitted false documents to get a work visa to bring in a maid from India — whom she then exploited by paying her less than she was required to.
The maid’s name is Sangeeta Richard. She, too, is a citizen of India. But the Indian government has let the world know which side it’s on by accusing this woman of stealing from her diplomat employer.
We don’t know who’s right here. But the accusations lodged by Bharara are fairly easy to prove: Were the papers Khobragade submitted fraudulent or not? We note, too, that this is the third case involving the exploitation of workers by officials at the Indian consulate in New York.
Then there is the over-the-top response of the Indian government, which included removing concrete security barriers at the US embassy in New Delhi. Incredibly, instead of communicating US outrage that India would play with the security of our diplomats, Secretary of State John Kerry went out of his way to soothe India’s feelings by expressing “regret,” which Indian officials then made clear was not enough.
We’ll give New Delhi this: We wish our own government could be as protective of Americans overseas as the Indians have been in support of a high-ranking official accused of exploiting a woman much poorer and less connected than she. In the meantime, Preet Bharara’s question about the selective outrage is a good one.