Saudi abuse scandal rocks India -- New Internationalist

Saudi abuse scandal rocks India -- New Internationalist

Saudi abuse scandal rocks India

 Last week there was an uproar from the Indian human rights lobby in
general and women’s groups in particular when news broke about the abuse
of 2 Nepali women used as sex slaves by a Saudi diplomat stationed in
New Delhi.

The women, who had originally been promised
employment as maids, had been imprisoned in the diplomat’s luxury flat,
tortured, starved, raped, sodomized, abused and beaten. They were also
forced to provide sex for the diplomat’s friends when he so commanded
them. One finally managed to escape and alerted the police and a human
rights NGO. The Saudi diplomat’s wife reportedly had the gall to
verbally abuse the police who raided the flat.

Every major
newspaper, magazine and TV channel broke the story in all its salacious
detail. Sex, sodomy, Saudis. Definitely makes for titillating headlines;
and TV anchors had a field day with viewers glued to the television.
Yet, the Saudi family, including the wife and daughter, who had done
nothing to help the Nepali women, were allowed to fly out of India with
impunity. Even the police, incandescent at reportedly being slapped
around by the diplomat’s wife, were helpless.

Was it diplomatic
immunity that prevailed? Or Saudi wealth and the resultant effortless
ability to oil every wheel that matters in the corridors of power? It’s a
combination of many things. Remember, even Buckingham Palace lowered
its flag to mourn the passing of a Saudi ruler. Under the Vienna
Convention, diplomats enjoy immunity from arrest, criminal prosecution
and civil lawsuits in the countries where they are posted. Unless Saudi
Arabia decides to prosecute its diplomat, little can be done under
Indian law.

 

Imagens Evangélicas under a Creative Commons Licence