GURGAON: Three days after the allegations of a Saudi Arabia diplomat based in New Delhi involved in rape, gang rape and torture came to light Ministry of external affairs(MEA) summoned the Saudi ambassador on Thursday to convey “request” for “cooperation” in the investigation.
This is after the Gurgaon police sent a "detailed" report to the MEA on their investigation into the case and preliminary views on Wednesday. The report was sent hours after a second medical examination of the two women confirmed rape of the 22 and 44 year old women.
With the pressure building up MEA is in a precarious situation. On one hand it needs to cater justice and also maintain smooth ties with Nepal and Saudi Arabia. The MEA is taking each step carefully.
“MEA Chief of Protocol called in Saudi Ambassador today and conveyed request of Haryana Police for cooperation of Embassy in the case of two Nepali citizens,” Spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs Vikas Swarup said.
The 45-minute long meeting took place in Jawaharlal Nehru Bhawan, MEA’s second home in Delhi, where Saudi ambassador Saud Mohammed Alsati met with the Chief of protocol Jaideep Mazumdar.
Sources said that the Saudi ambassador did not give any response to the Indian request at the meeting, but promised to convey it to Riyadh and return with a response later.
Meanwhile activists of All-India Democratic Women's Association shouted slogans against the diplomat and demanded justice for the two women. They also demanded that no diplomatic immunity should be given to the diplomat.
Saudi Ambassador to India Saud Mohammed Alsati along with some embassy officials had also met senior officials to register their protest with the External Affairs Ministry.
“We have carried out a quick, transparent and scientific investigation so far, in this case, and presented our findings before MEA .We are awaiting further instructions from the MEA in the matter who now have to guide and assist us to carry out this investigation further” said Gurgaon Police Commissioner Navdeep Singh Virk.
The Saudi ambassador had met with the MEA joint secretary (Gulf) Thanglura Darlong on Wednesday and registered protest at the “intrusion” by police into a diplomatic residence covered with diplomatic immunity as per the Vienna convention.
It is highly unlikely that the Saudi government will make a u-turn on its stance with regard to its diplomat.
Therefore, either the Saudi embassy will voluntarily withdraw the diplomat or India could declare him persona non grata. If India expels the Saudi diplomat, it will lead to a tit-for-tat from Riyadh which would similarly ask an Indian diplomat of similar rank to leave the country.
BRIEF:
Gurgaon: Two minor girls suffocated to death after getting locked in their family's car in Gurgaon’s Kodarpur area on Thursday.
“The girls, Himanshi, 4, and her sister Pinki, 2, locked themselves in while playing hide-and-seek on Wednesday. The family after some time got suspicious and started looking for them” said Rajesh Kumar Assistant Commisoner of Police (Crime).
According to police, the incident came to light when their father began looking for them. He found them in an unconscious state in his Etios car when he was planning to go to police station to report his missing daughters.
The victims were rushed to a private hospital where they were declared brought dead.