Shocker: Devyani Khobragade asks maid not to fall sick due to expenses
The maid was made to work for extremely long hours and without a single entire day off. She also told her not to get sick "because it was expensive", according to the indictment filed against her.
Complete text of Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade's indictment
The copy of the indictment, which was made public, stated that Khobragade made the nanny work often up to 100 or more hours per week, which, based on the promised salary of $573 per month, would result in an actual hourly wage of $1.42 per hour or less.
She has asked a court to dismiss the indictment against her and terminate any "open" arrest warrants in visa fraud case, arguing that she was "cloaked" in diplomatic immunity and cannot face criminal prosecution in the US.
The document also stated that Khobragade did not give the victim any holidays or sick leave.
"Indeed, on two occasions when the victim became ill, the victim was not given a sick day. On one occasion, the victim had to ask to see a doctor several times before Khobragade relented. Khobragade told the victim not to get sick because it was expensive," it said. Khobragade, a mid-ranking, young diplomat who was posted as Deputy Consul General for Political, Economic, Commercial and Women's Affairs was arrested by the New York police.
The US authorities accused her of helping the Indian nanny in submitting fake documents to the US State Department saying that she was paying $4,500 per month, when in reality, the nanny or the domestic help got only $573 a month.
Khobragade had hired the nanny in 2012 and she was working as a babysitter and domestic help at her house in the upscale Manhattan area of New York till last June.
OneIndia News