Gurgaon, Sep 9: A diplomat from Saudi Arabia is among those booked for gangrape and wrongful confinement after two women — a woman, 44, and her daughter, 20, from Nepal — were rescued from his residence in Gurgaon after a raid on Monday night, police said.
The women, who were hired as domestic help, were allegedly kept as “hostages for more than a month”. Their medical examination has confirmed rape and sexual assault.
The two women were rescued from the diplomat’s apartment in Caitriona Towers, Ambience Lagoon on Monday night. The raid was reportedly planned after the police received a letter from the Nepal embassy regarding their plight.
Police sources said the two women employed by the diplomat’s family had been allegedly raped, assaulted, threatened and forced to have unnatural sex over a period of four months.
“The raid was conducted on Monday at the Caitriona Towers house of a senior diplomat in the Saudi Arabia embassy after a tip-off. Several policewomen were assaulted by the guards of the diplomat when the police team sought to rescue the two maids from Nepal who had been held hostage for more than a month,” said Rajesh Kumar Chechi, Gurgaon Assistant Commissioner of Police (Crime).
“They (the victims) were brought to the police station and later sent to the civil hospital for a medical examination that confirmed rape and sexual assault,” said Chechi.
While the diplomat is untraceable since the raid, he has been booked under sections 376 D (gangrape), 376 (rape), 377 (unnatural offence), 342 (wrongful confinement), 120 B (criminal conspiracy), 323 (causing hurt), 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). However, no arrest has been made so far.
The diplomat’s wife, two others from Saudi Arabia and others have also been listed as accused.
When contacted, Saudi Ambassador Saud Mohammed Alsati told The Indian Express, “This is completely false. We would not like to comment any further since the case is under investigation by the Indian police.”
On Tuesday, the Gurgaon police wrote a letter to the Ministry of External Affairs seeking permission for further investigation into the diplomat’s involvement in the rape case, confirmed a senior police officer. Later in the day, the victims’ statements were recorded before a magistrate. The victims reportedly said that on one occasion they were “gangraped by six expats” in the Gurgaon apartment.
According to the police, the diplomat’s wife was aware of the sexual assault and even supported her husband. In their complaint, the victims said the accused threatened them and attacked them with a knife twice, said the police.
According to Chechi, the two women were hired through a placement agent in Delhi. “They were also taken to Saudi Arabia and returned only last month. They had been held hostage since then,” he said.
The women were reportedly lured to Delhi about four months ago by a woman trafficker who promised them a well-paid job in Saudi Arabia. Sources in the police said the two were sold to an agent in Delhi for Rs 1 lakh each, and then to the diplomat.
“They were first taken to Saudi Arabia. The assault began after they returned… and were kept in captivity at his house,” said Bal Krishan, president of Maiti Nepal India, an NGO that carried out the rescue operation with the help of the Gurgaon Police.
Police sources also confirmed that the victims were kept in Jeddah for a couple of months and then brought to India and held hostage.
“A few days ago, a domestic help had gone to the diplomat’s place for work, but fled after seeing the condition of the two victims. She then went to this NGO and alerted them. An investigation began on the basis of her account,” said a senior official.
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