Bangalore: “When India is standing up to support the Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade in the US, I want to remind everyone that the ordeal and the ill-treatment I faced till now are comparable to the humiliation she is facing,” said former French diplomat Pascal Mazurier here on Saturday.
Talking to the media, he demanded speedy justice for both Khobragade and himself, and said that he should be allowed to meet his children, which has been denied to him for the last 18 months.
“My son who is three years now and he might call me uncle next time when he sees me. It is 18 moths since I have seen him. The Indian government quickly intervened for the cause of Indian children abroad in two cases. One is Vallabhaneni case in Norway in 2011 and the other is Puri’s case in the United Kingdom in 2013.
Why am I not being treated the same?” he asked. Like Khobragade, he was also strip searched and lodged in a jail with murderers and drug peddlers for four traumatic months. Diplomatic officials should be treated with respect as stated in Article 40 and 41 of the Vienna Convention. “A false case has been foisted against me on alleged charges of raping my three-year-and-ten month-old daughter. But the DNA samples have not matched,” he said.
“It is humiliating to wait for several years for justice. My children are being harassed and abused daily by my wife. Justice delayed is justice denied,” he added.
Jackie Mazurier, Pascal’s mother, expressed concern over her three grandchildren and said that they have been traumatised. She said that she was allowed to see her grandchildren for barely 40 minutes after waging a legal battle. She requested public agencies in India and France to act fast and not to delay justice. She spoke in French and Mazurier translated it into English.
Dharna at Town Hall
Child Rights and Shared Parenting (CRISP), an NGO, and Shriram Gurukul Trust are staging a dharna in front of Town Hall on Sunday to protest against the inhuman and undignified attitude of the US government towards Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade. Former French diplomat Pascal Mazurier, who has been facing charges of sexually assaulting his daughter, is also taking part in the dharna, said CRISP president Kumar Jahgirdar.
He demanded protection for Indian women and families settled abroad and an assurance from the US that such ill-treatment would not recur. CRISP also demanded that cases like French Diplomat Mazurier’s should be handled sensitively and disposed of with a time frame to prove his innocence.
