Rape charges against Saudi diplomat: Probe as per Vienna convention

The probe into the alleged rape and confinement of two Nepalese women by a Saudi diplomat and his "guests" in an apartment here would be undertaken in accordance with the Vienna convention as the official enjoys diplomatic immunity, the Gurgaon Police Commissioner said on Wednesday.

The probe into the alleged rape and confinement of two Nepalese women by a Saudi diplomat and his "guests" in an apartment here would be undertaken in accordance with the Vienna convention as the official enjoys diplomatic immunity, the Gurgaon Police Commissioner said on Wednesday.

The two Nepalese women who were allegedly raped by a Saudi diplomat in Gurgaon, at the Nepal embassy in New Delhi (Photo by Sushil Kumar/ Hindustan Times)

Constantly stressing that registeration of an FIR does not mean that offence has been proved, Police Commissioner Navdeep Singh Virk said the police is in touch with the External Affairs Ministry which has sought a detailed report on the case which would be submitted shortly.

He, however, made the investigation will be as per the Vienna convention, an international treaty that defines a framework for diplomatic relations between independent countries.

Vienna convention deals with the privileges of a diplomatic mission and the diplomats to perform their function without fear of coercion or harassment by the host country. This forms the legal basis for diplomatic immunity

"We have been able to establish the identity (of the diplomat who has been accused of rape) and we have also been able to establish that the residents of that flat enjoy diplomatic immunity," he said.

Asked if the accused diplomat would be summoned for test identification parade, he said that whatever steps are needed for investigation will be taken in coordination with MEA.

Virk added that no name has been mentioned in the FIR since the complainant did not know the names.

Two Nepalese women have alleged that they were confined and raped by the diplomat repeatedly in a flat in Gurgaon on the outskirts of the national capital after which local police filed an FIR in the matter.

Previous such cases

The 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations says, " Diplomats shall enjoy immunity from the criminal jurisdiction of the receiving state. They shall also enjoy immunity from its civil and administrative jurisdiction"

There have been many previous instances where police could not proceed against serving diplomats and their immediate families because of provisions of the Vienna Convention.

In 2003, the then Senegalese envoy's son in New Delhi was accused of murdering his driver, but police could not pick him up for questioning as he enjoyed diplomatic immunity.

The ambassador Ahmed el Mansour Diop, denied that his 24-year old son, though reports said there was was a fight between the two outside a five-star hotel.

In 2013, the arrest and strip search of India's deputy consul in New York, Devyani Khobragade, kicked up a storm in India and led to tensions between India and the US. Khobragade was accused of visa fraud and underpaying her maid.

In a rather famous case in neighbouring Pakistan, in 2011, Central Intelligence Agency agent Raymond Davis was arrested by authorities after he shot dead two armed men in a Lahore street.

The US maintained that Davis's rights as a diplomat were violated by his arrest. He was later let off by a Pakistani court after coughing up 'blood money' to the relatives of the killed men.

In January this year, India's then high commissioner to New Zealand Ravi Thapar was recalled over allegations that his wife had assaulted their chef. Police in Auckland were denied permission to interview either Thapar or his wife Sharmila.