Flayed: Raid on KSA diplomat’s home in India

RIYADH: The Saudi Embassy in India on Wednesday termed as “false and concocted” the charges of sexual assault leveled against one of its diplomats.
The embassy protested to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) over “police intrusion” into a diplomat’s house in violation of “all diplomatic conventions.” It said: “Such an attack on a diplomat and his family members contravenes the protection clauses of the Vienna Convention.”
According to reports in Indian media, the two Nepalese women named in the case were working as maids at the diplomat’s house. Police have registered a case of rape and illegal confinement against the Saudi official, although he has not been named in the complaint.
Saud Al-Sati, Saudi ambassador to India, said: “The embassy rejects the allegations and it has already made a public statement about the whole episode. All allegations against the diplomat and his family members are false and have not been proven.”
Speaking to Arab News, Al-Sati said as soon as the embassy came to know that the family of one of its diplomats was attacked, the embassy contacted the Indian Foreign Ministry’s undersecretary and assistant undersecretary for Gulf affairs and the police chief of Gurgaon, a city in the Indian state of Haryana.
The embassy conveyed to the Indian officials that the nasty behavior of the security men was totally unacceptable.
The Saudi Embassy also expressed concerns over the way the police stormed the house of the diplomat — first secretary at the embassy — and beat his family members, including his wife and 19-year-old daughter, under the pretext that the family was holding two housemaids hostage.
The diplomat, facing charges by the police and a section of the Indian media for alleged complicity in the rape of two women, met senior Indian Foreign Ministry officials on Wednesday and lodged his protest over the police action at his Gurgaon residence.
The diplomat also met Thanglura Darlong, joint secretary at the MEA, and protested against the “police intrusion and harassment.”
Al-Sati’s e-mailed statement to Arab News strongly criticized the “unwarranted Indian media briefing and media trial of the case before the investigation was complete.”
The statement said the police action contravenes the international rules of diplomatic protection and immunity.
“The embassy would however wait for clarification from the Indian MEA about the matter and wait for the outcome of the investigation into the allegations.”
Indian Embassy officials in Riyadh were tight-lipped on the issue.
According to Al-Watan newspaper, some Indian officials have already expressed regrets saying that the police officers were not aware of the fact that the house belonged to a diplomat.
It is important to note that Article 22 and Article 27 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations do not allow the host country or their police to enter a diplomatic mission or a diplomat’s residence without permission.
Article 29 of the convention further says that the diplomats are immune from civil or criminal prosecution and must not be detained or arrested in the host country.
Also, the family members of a diplomat living in a host country enjoy most of the same protection as the diplomats, as per article 37 of the convention. Saudi Arabia and India together with all UN member states are signatory to the Vienna convention.