Activists shout slogans during a protest outside the Saudi Arabian embassy in New Delhi on Thursday. (PTI file photo)
The Saudi diplomat, who has been accused of confining and raping two Nepali women who worked as his domestic help, has left India. Sources told NDTV that the Saudi government had withdrawn him after India insisted on his being questioned by the police.
"We have learnt that the first secretary Majed Hassan Ashoor who was allegedly accused of raping two Nepalese women has left India," the spokesperson in External Affairs Ministry Vikas Swaroop has said.
"The first secretary being a diplomat is governed by the provision of the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations," he added.
The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations gives diplomats immunity from arrest, criminal prosecution and civil lawsuits in the countries where they are posted.
The women, who were rescued from the diplomat's Gurgaon home last week on basis of a tip off from an NGO, had alleged that they had been repeatedly gangraped, tortured, starved and kept confined for over three months.
As Nepal demanded justice for the women, Saudi Arabia pressured India to drop the case, insisting that Mr Hashnoor was innocent. But sources said Saudi Arabia withdrew him after India insisted on his being questioned.
Today's action comes days after National Security Advisor Ajit Doval was said to have taken an interest in the matter - a sensitive one given Prime Minister Narendra Modi's scheduled visit to Saudi Arabia sometime in the next few months.
The visit, rare for an Indian leader, is meant as part of a strategy to invite investment from cash-rich oil states and expand cooperation in the energy sector.