The Bangalore police have written to the Union government requesting information on the status of Pascal Mazurier, the 39-year-old French diplomat, accused of raping his three-and-a-half-year-old daughter.
Bangalore's Additional Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) T. Suneel Kumar told The Hindu here on Saturday that they would proceed against Mr. Mazurier only after it is officially confirmed to them in writing that he does not enjoy diplomatic immunity. “We have written to the Union government on Friday and hope to get a reply by Monday.”
However, sources in the Ministry of External Affairs have maintained that the question of “diplomatic immunity” does not arise in this case. One, he only holds an official passport, and two, the alleged crime was not committed in “the line of duty”. Mr. Mazurier, a deputy head of chancery in the Consulate of France here, was let off on Friday evening, after preliminary interrogation and physical examination, on the basis of a written undertaking submitted by Vincent Caumontat, Deputy Consul, head of Chancery at the consulate.
Meanwhile, the complainant, Suja Jones Mazurier (37), has written to the Ministry of External Affairs and the Union Home Ministry requesting them to ensure that her husband faces trial in India despite his “diplomatic status.”
The lawyer representing the victim, Geetha Menon, questioned the procedure of an assurance letter as a basis to let off a rape accused. Further, she alleged that the mother had been put through a series of traumatic experiences since she lodged her complaint. Her child was made to go through multiple examinations in a government hospital on Friday, despite having submitted a detailed medical examination conducted by the Collaborative Child Response Unit of Baptist Hospital within hours of the alleged rape.
On Saturday noon, she was again called to the hospital for an HIV test for all her three children.
Ms. Menon , who spoke on behalf of Ms. Mazurier, also said the police had been “insensitive” to the complainant. On Friday evening, when Mr. Mazurier was let off, she was asked to travel home in the same car with him. She is living at her residence in Vasanthnagar under police protection, while he is at an undisclosed location under the “care and protection” of Mr. Caumontat.
