French consulate official accused of raping 3-yr-old held

Bangalore, Jun 19: The French diplomat accused of raping his three and a half year old daughter has been arrested. It has earlier emerged that the diplomat does not possess diplomatic immunity and will have to face the law of the land for perpetrating this heinous crime.

Pascal Mazurier has been taken for a medical examination by the Bangalore police and will later be produced before the magistrate's court. The 39 year old Mazurier works as a deputy head of chancery in the French consulate in Bangalore. A case under Section 376 of IPC was registered against the diplomat based on the complaint by the victim's mother and Pascal's wife Suja Jones Mazurier, who is an Indian national.

The clarification came from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) that the diplomat, Pascal Mazurier does not enjoy immunity leading the way to his arrest. A statement from the French consulate said, "A complaint has been lodged regarding the rape of a minor girl who is a French National. The complaint names the father of the child, who is a Consular agent of this Consulate-General. An investigation is underway for which this Consulate General is extending its full cooperation with the police and the authorities in charge. It remains also in touch with the family of the child."

Monday had seen a number of child right activists protesting outside the consulate alleging that the French consulate was blocking the probe and was agitated that the accused was still scot-free. Some of them were arrested by the police. But setting rumours aside, the French Consulate officials will be travelling to Bangalore to assist in the probe carried out by the Bangalore police. France has still not commented on the crime carried out by their national.

With the MEA giving its go-ahead to carry out legal proceedings against the accused, the official note stating the same is being sent to the Bangalore police in order to take necessary action.

Bangalore Police Commissioner, Jyothiprakash Mirji has been quoted as saying, "As soon as we get directions from the government of Karnataka or the government of India, we will proceed further. I am told we will get the directions today." The police are also awaiting the forensic report on DNA samples to get more information and evidence on the case.

OneIndia News