We don’t know about Saudi Arabia, but the monumental despicability that emerges from the reports concerning a diplomat of that country in New Delhi for brutalisation of two women from Nepal, who were treated worse than sex slaves at the diplomat’s official residence in Gurgaon, has caused revulsion in India. The allegations are extremely serious and must be thoroughly probed. If the prime mover in the sordid saga were an Indian, or someone not enjoying diplomatic rank, there would be an outcry to send him to the gallows.
India and Saudi Arabia have a bilateral relationship that has matured over the years, and New Delhi has long valued this engagement. In dealing with the case both countries shuld proceed in a manner that ensures justice to the victims without ruffling feathers.
The first secretary in question enjoys immunity from prosecution in India as he is an accredited diplomat, but it is not inconceivable that he will be visited by the justice system of his own country. The charge should be established, of course. Ideally, Saudi judicial officials could be associated with the invitation in a mutually acceptable capacity. The governments of both countries should have sufficient confidence in one another to accommodate this.
The question that should be troubling Riyadh is this: How would Saudi society and the Saudi government have reacted if something similar had occurred in their own country and fingers were pointing at a foreigner — even if he were a diplomat — and his friends who were fellow countrymen?
There is no need to pore over law books — only to think of the conscience of a people. It simply does not matter that the women who were violated and robbed of their dignity were citizens of one of the poorest countries. Poor does not mean chattel or plaything, especially in an era in which human rights and personal liberties have an important place in the justice and moral systems of the world.
What should also interest Riyadh is that its diplomat, who has brought his country a bad name, should have been in touch with Indian racketeers and human traffickers in finding domestic helps, rather than authorised agencies whose work is above board. After the sordid Gurgaon saga, it is extremely doubtful if any country would be happy to extend its hospitality to a rank pervert, if allegations are even halfway right. The Saudi authorities might as well sack the brute and let true Islamic justice prevail.
