Mazurier moves High Court seeking bail

Mr. Mazurier claimed that arresting him under the Indian law was contrary to the provisions of the Vienna Convention of Diplomatic Relationships, 1961

Pascal Mazurier, Consular Attaché to the Consulate General of France in Bangalore, who has been accused by his wife of raping their three-and-a-half-year-old daughter, moved the Karnataka High Court on Tuesday seeking bail.

Justice V. Jagannathan adjourned further hearing on the petition filed by Mr. Mazurier, a French national, till August 21, asking the State to file its statement of objections.

DNA profile

In support of his contention that he is innocent and was booked on a concocted complaint, Mr. Mazurier in his petition pointed out that as per the report of the test conducted by the Forensic Sciences Laboratory, Bangalore, his DNA profile did not match with the stains found on the child’s body.

Rejected

The Fast Track Court-1, Bangalore, on July 27 had rejected his plea for bail while observing that “though DNA test has not tallied with the DNA profile of the accused, only on this ground bail cannot be granted to him”. The court had also said that his release on bail at this stage based only on the DNA report would not be right.

Meanwhile, in his petition, Mr. Mazurier also claimed that arresting him under the Indian law was contrary to the provisions of the Vienna Convention of Diplomatic Relationships, 1961, as he is a diplomatic agent of France in India. Mr. Mazurier, however, said he would not leave India without the permission of the authorities and the police if released on bail.