India accuses US of humiliating diplomat in arrest

Indian officials said Friday the United States publicly humiliated a diplomat when New York police arrested her for alleged visa fraud. New York police Thursday arrested Devyani Khobragade, 39, India's deputy consul general, and charged her with one count of visa fraud and one county of making false statements, the Hindustan Times reported. Khobragade was accused of exploiting her housekeeper. "India is shocked and appalled by what the U.S. has done to its diplomat in New York," said Syed Akbaruddin, spokesperson for the external affairs ministry in Delhi. "India is forcefully taking up with the U.S. the treatment meted out to arrested diplomat which is not acceptable," he added. "You cannot humiliate a mother of two publicly." Police arrested Khobragade while she was dropping her daughter off at school, the Times reported. She pleaded not guilty to the charges in Manhattan Federal Court and was released on $250,000 bail.