French diplomat accused of raping daughter approaches Modi

New Delhi, Aug 16: French consular official Pascal Mazurier, accused of sexually abusing his minor daughter, has approached Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for speedy justice.

In a missive to Modi, the diplomat, who is posted in Consulate General of France in Bangalore but is under suspension, said "he's deprived of speedy justice" even 25 months after his estranged Indian wife made the allegations against him.

"I have not been able to maintain contact with my three innocent children, who loved me so much, and in turn, they are forgetting their national language and culture, their family history," said the letter written to the prime minister two days ago.

"All stakes are not just for my reputation but for the life of my three children, who are my blood," Mazurier, who has been an employee of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the past 13 years, told IANS Saturday.

The attache was charged by a Bangalore sessions court Feb 11 this year under section 376 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which deals with the rape of a minor.

Mazurier, 40, is currently on bail.

Police filed an additional chargesheet against Mazurier in January 2013, with a detailed report of doctors who said the accused sodomised and raped his daughter for two years.

"One has heard of cases being decided by the Indian courts in less than a fortnight. I have a complete trust in the Indian judiciary and ask the authorities concerned to provide speedy justice not for me but also for my daughter," he said.

Making a fervent appeal to the Indian government to put the case on fast track as his grandmother is on the death bed, Mazurier, who was in Delhi Aug 13-14, said he can't go back to his native place owing to pendency of the case. "My grandmother's last wish is to see me on her death bed."

Citing violations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), the letter says: "This international treaty requires that the national and cultural identity of children must be preserved and protected and it is but natural that the minor children of parents who hail from different nations and cultures must have contact with both their parents."

Mazurier was arrested June 19, 2012 after police registered a case against him under section 376 of the IPC on a complaint by his wife accusing him of abusing their four-year-old child. She also alleged domestic violence by Mazurier.

The Karnataka High Court granted him bail in October 2012 while the criminal case is pending in the sessions court for trial.

IANS