India has called on Saudi Arabia to cooperate in rape investigation

Nepali women who told police they were raped by a Saudi official walk outside Nepal's embassy in New Delhi, India (Reuters/Anindito Mukherjee)

pIndian authorities have asked Saudi Arabias government not to hinder the progress of their investigation into a Saudi official accused of raping and enslaving two women./p pPolice, acting on a tip from a human rights NGO, searched the luxury apartment of the senior diplomat in the satellite town of Gurgaon, New Delhi, earlier this week and recovered the two women who they claim were being held there./ppThe Nepali women, aged 30 and 50, who were working as domestic servants for the diplomat, told police they were held in the apartment against their will for months./ppSpokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, Vikas Swarup, said Saudi authorities have been asked to cooperate./ppblockquote class=twitter-tweet lang=enp dir=ltr lang=enMEA Chief of Protocol called in Saudi Amb today, conveyed request of Haryana Police for coopn of Embassy in the case of 2 Nepali citizens/p— Vikas Swarup (@MEAIndia) a href=https://twitter.com/MEAIndia/status/641895550762090496September 10, 2015/a/blockquotescript charset=utf-8 src=//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js/script/ppThe Saudi embassy has denied the charges as completely false and called the search on the apartment intrusive and a breach of the accuseds diplomatic privilege./ppThe identity of the diplomat is being protected by Saudi authorities, who have taken him into residence in their New Delhi embassy./ppNo action can be taken by Delhi police against the accused unless his diplomatic immunity is waived by the Saudi government./ph5Read more:bra href=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/saudi-arabia-warns-citizens-about-fake-information-after-wikileaks-release-60000-secret-documents-giving-an-insight-into-saudi-foreign-policy-and-the-behaviour-of-the-royals-10334541.html?origin=internalSearchSaudi Arabia warns about fake information from Wikileaks/abra href=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/watch-angelina-jolie-tells-heartbreaking-tale-of-girls-who-were-raped-and-sold-off-for-40-10491581.html?origin=internalSearchAngelina Jolie tells story of girls raped and sold for $40/abra href=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/man-confesses-to-being-marseilles-serial-rapist-10-months-after-dna-tests-and-id-parades-failed-to-tell-him-apart-from-his-twin-brother-10491970.html?origin=internalSearchMan confesses to being serial rapist, clearing his twin brother/a/h5pIndia is working to improve its relations with both Saudi Arabia and Nepal and the investigation may cause a diplomatic crisis with one or both countries./ppThe prime minister of India, Narendra Modi, is due to travel to Saudi Arabia later in the year. It is feared that the Gulf kingdom may put pressure of Indian authorities to drop the investigation despite public pressure to prosecute./ppThe women, both from remote rural areas of Nepal, had been sent to Delhi for work by a Nepali agency, campaigners said. The pair was flown home on Wednesday./ppTheem Times of India/em a href=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Outrage-grows-India-reasons-with-Saudis/articleshow/48907559.cms target=_blanksaid/a: The diplomat has to go, one way or another./ppIf the Saudis don’t defuse the situation by taking their diplomat home, the Indian government would find itself compelled to declare him persona non grata and expel him./p