An Indian diplomat whose arrest and strip-search sparked a rift between the US and India was indicted by a federal grand jury in New York on Thursday on charges of visa fraud and making false statements regarding the employment of a maid.
The indictment, however, came just hours after the State Department moved to resolve the case in a way that allowed the diplomat, Devyani Khobragade, to leave the country without facing the allegations in court, according to American media reports.
Khobragade, 39, was charged by a federal grand jury in Manhattan with visa fraud and making false statements in a case that has triggered an outcry in India. She is accused of fraudulently obtaining a work visa for her New York City housekeeper.
A US official was quoted as saying that the State Department has officially asked India to arrange her departure. Later, the Associated Press, the American news agency, reported that she had left the country after being ordered out.
Under the diplomatic resolution, the State Department on Wednesday granted an Indian request to accredit Khobragade to India’s Mission to the United Nations in New York, a position that has a higher level of diplomatic immunity than her previous job as the deputy consul general in New York.
The immunity is not retroactive, and the charges against her are “pending until such time as she can be brought to court to face them” in a non-immune status, Preet Bharara, the India-born US attorney for Manhattan, said. That would seem to limit any future plans Khobragade may have to visit or reside in this country. “Her husband and children are US citizens, so she wants to be here, one would assume,” the US official said.
The Indian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday that “at the time of her departure for India, Counsellor Khobragade reiterated her innocence on charges filed against her,” and added that she was determined to ensure that “the episode would not leave a lasting impact on her family, in particular, her children, who are still in the United States”.
