This Article is From Dec 12, 2014

Exclusive: Confident I Will Get Justice, Devyani Khobragade Tells NDTV

Devyani Khobragade (right) says she is confident that she will get justice

Devyani Khobragade, India's former deputy consul general in New York, was arrested by United States authorities in December last year over alleged visa fraud.

Ms Khobragade, a 1999 India Foreign Service officer and mother of two daughters has now returned to India.

Ms Khobragade speaks to NDTV's Barkha Dutt on her arrest and the case against her:

  • I am thankful to the country, the government and the Indian Foreign Service officials for rallying behind me
  • I don't feel abandoned. Have full faith in government and I am confident that I will get justice
  • Don't know how negotiations are progressing in my case
  • Diplomacy doesn't play out in public domain, I'm sure things are moving
  • I want the crisis and its impact on my life should be resolved
  • I don't want to be in headlines, want Indo-US ties to be better


On her arrest last December:

  • I dropped my kids to the school. When I came out, a man and a woman came to me and said they have arrest warrant against me.
  • I was arrested outside my kids' school
  • I asked for my lawyer, the security officials showed me handcuffs
  • I said I am a diplomat and have some immunity, I won't be arrested. They then took me in their car.
  • My boots, accessories were taken away and I was handcuffed in the car park and taken to the US Marshal's office
  • Then the entire process started and I was strip-searched. I was cavity-searched, treated like an ordinary criminal


On charges of underpaying her domestic help in US, visa fraud:

  • I paid my domestic help whatever she was entitled to under US laws
  • I actually paid my help more than what was written in contract if all perks are calculated
  • A portion of my domestic help's salary was also paid in India. And I have her signature as proof.
  • My domestic help wanted to live outside, bring her family to the US
  • Americans don't have a case against me
  • US officials didn't probe case properly


On vigilance case by India:

  • The second indictment is like a hanging sword on me; it's unfair and unjust
  • A plea bargain in US would have set a wrong precedent for my colleagues
  • I never hid the fact that my kids have both Indian and US passports
  • My kids were born in the US and are considered US citizens

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