2 maids raped and tortured by Saudi Arabian diplomat, his friends, transferred to shelter in Nepal

Maids were sexually abused by men who would watch porn, rape them.

By Dileep Thekkethil

Two Nepali domestic workers, 20 and 44 years of age, who alleged rape, torture and illegal confinement charges against their employer, a Saudi Arabian diplomat, in New Delhi, has been transferred to a shelter home in Nepal as the police and authorities requested the Saudi embassy to cooperate by producing its diplomat to the investigating officer.

In the meanwhile, the diplomat is believed to have moved along with his family to the embassy building fearing arrest, this even as he enjoys diplomatic immunity. The embassy had on Tuesday denied all the charges levelled against its diplomat.

Yesterday, the external affair ministry had called the Saudi Arabian Ambassador Saud Mohammed Alsati and was told that the diplomat should provide a statement to the Gurgaon police which is currently investigating the case.

A spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs Vikas Swarup said, “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.”

The first and second medical examinations conducted on the two Nepali women have confirmed that they were sexually abused. The same has been sent to the External Affairs Ministry.

It has been confirmed that Saudi Arabian diplomat has claimed diplomatic immunity to escape from charges of rape and illegal confinement. Earlier, the Saudi embassy had stood by its diplomat saying that the charges levelled against him is totally false and said the search conducted by the police on his Gurgaon residence is an intrusion of all diplomatic conventions.

On the other hand, the two Nepali women were brought to the Kathmandu Airport with faces covered and were escorted by police officers. They were later moved to a women’s shelter home and abstained from meeting the media.

According to the statements given by the maids, the Saudi diplomat along with his family and friends starved them, and sexually abused them for several months.

Gurgaon police Chief Navdeep Singh Virk said that the maids had told that they were hired by the family and were taken to Jeddah a few months back for working as maids. The women worked in Jeddah for a month and later returned to the apartment of the diplomat where they continued working as maids.

One of the maids said to Times Now channel that “They would beat us every night and often there was more than one man who would torture and rape us. We have marks all over our body.”

The older woman was quoted by Indian Express saying “There were days when seven to eight men — all from Saudi Arabia — would assault us. If we resisted, the diplomat and his family would threaten to kill us and dispose of our bodies in the sewer.”

In the meantime, a group of women’s activist staged a protest outside the Saudi Embassy in the capital city, demanding stringent action against the diplomat. They also asked the Saudi embassy not to enforce diplomatic immunity on their officer.