French authorities are yet to respond to a plea by Suja Jones, wife of the French Consulate official Pascal Mazurier accused of sexually abusing his daughter aged three-and-a-half, to meet French President Francois Hollande during his two-day visit to New Delhi.
Ms. Jones, in a letter to the French Ministry for Women’s Rights, had requested that she and her daughter, a French citizen, be allowed a short meeting with the President.
“It is only fair that since the President had met the lawyers of her husband in France, he grant her an audience,” she says.
AFP reported last week that Mr. Mazurier’s lawyers had been received at the Elysee Palace, and Ms. Jones’s request was a “diplomatic dilemma” for France.
In her letter, Ms. Jones alleged that the French Consulate in Bangalore appeared to be supporting Mr. Mazurier. He was arrested in June 2012 and granted bail by the Karnataka High Court in October that year.
Ms. Jones told The Hindu on Wednesday that she was disappointed that the French government did not even respond to her plea. “It is unfortunate that the office of the French President has the time to meet the representatives of a person who is charge-sheeted by the Indian state for the rape of his own child, but cannot spare a little time to meet the victim’s mother,” she said.
Last week, two women’s rights groups in France wrote to French Minister for Women’s Rights Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, seeking support and protection for the victim and her mother. They requested that the President meet the mother and child.
Ms. Jones alleged in her complaint that senior officials in the Consulate extended open support to the accused. “We had hoped that as my three children are French citizens, we would receive consular support. We are disappointed by their passive stance. The least I can ask for is that they [French authorities] allow the Indian judicial process to take its course without influence or interference of any nature.”
