Trauma and haplessness keep haunting Suja Jones Mazurier, the Malayali wife of jailed French diplomat Pascal Mazurier. But she has also shored up courage and come out against the attitude of French authorities.
She has e-mailed a strongly- worded letter to Francois Richier, Ambassador of France to India, demanding justice and facilitating money transaction from her bank accounts to ensure a living for her and her three children.
With a poser on what were the ‘rights’ of her and her children and saying that it is not easy for a mother to press charges against her husband for a crime like raping their toddler daughter, Suja has listed out her ‘worst nightmare of living’ in the mail with copies to ‘Express.’
She has also charged that the French consulate in Bangalore is not neutral in the case.
‘’I have repeatedly said to Consul-General, Dominique Causse that I needed to access my bank account, French and Indian, (my husband changed the password of websites accounts when he was in ‘custody of the consulate, because he had ‘some consular privileges’). Two days after he was arrested and put in a VIP cell in Bangalore on June 14, my husband wrote a cheque of Rs 2,50,000 on behalf of his colleague of the consulate, Vincent Caumontat. I only have Rs 12,000 in the Indian account now. The consul would always ask how much money I needed ‘exactly’ and that ‘go ask Pascal to give me the money,’’ she says.
She said that she was questioned by police for four hours on June 25 without her lawyer. “It was horrible because he asked me questions about myself and my close family and they accused me of many things. When it was over, I called the Consul- General and he reassured me that the consulate had nothing to do in this matter,’’ she says.
“I had an appointment with the consul on July 2. He asked me about the experience in the police station. He asked if the children go to school. I replied that I could not send children to school without having access to my money. The consul said he should ‘remain neutral’. The children do not go to school and I have to move at the end of the month.
Ten months of rent has to be paid as advance. The kids and I have gone through the trauma. It’s not easy for a mother to press charges against her husband. This is the worst nightmare of living. I did it anyway because I want justice for my daughter.
I have to take my children for psychological therapy, and I’m also seeing someone to comfort me during this very difficult time. I do it all on credit.
I worry a lot but I have to stay calm so as not to disturb the children. When I ask the help of French expatriates here to call my bank in France, they tell me to wait for DNA results,’’ she said.
‘’I’ll ask you frankly, Mr.Ambassador, do all of France is awaiting the results of DNA to see if my children have the right to go to school? Does the Embassy of France too, as the consulate of France in Bangalore and all the French in Bangalore prefer to see if my husband is ‘proven guilty’ before deciding whether my children and I have the normal rights,’’ she asked.
‘’Mr. Ambassador, let me explain my Indian family can support me with money. I will also work. But in this case it is necessary that the embassy stop saying they are helping me.
I wonder if in some cases freedom, equality and fraternity do not apply,’’ she wondered.