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From VOA Learning English, |
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this is In the News. |
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This week, a lawyer for an Indian diplomat |
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asked a court in the United States to dismiss |
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immigration and employment charges against her. |
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Devyani Khobragade served as Deputy Counsel General |
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at India's consulate in New York City. |
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She is accused of making false statements |
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when she sought permission to bring an Indian national |
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to the US to serve as her housekeeper. |
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She also is charged with paying the woman |
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less than the lowest wage permitted under US law. |
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The case has angered a lot of people in India |
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and led to anti-American demonstrations. |
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The dispute began when US police |
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arrested Ms. Khobragade last month |
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after she dropped off her daughter at school. |
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Police searched the 39-year-old diplomat |
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for weapons possibly hidden inside her clothing. |
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They forced her to wear handcuffs. |
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Later, she was jailed in a room with drug suspects. |
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Ms. Khobragade was released after a court appearance. |
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The judge agreed to free the diplomat |
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in exchange for her promise to return for trial |
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and a bail payment of $250,000. |
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Ms. Khobragade told the court she was not guilty of the charges. |
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She is accused of paying the housekeeper |
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less than two dollars an hour |
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and making her work as many as 100 hours a week. |
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In official documents, she promised |
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to pay $4,500 in monthly wages to the housekeeper. |
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Instead, the woman received only $537 a month. |
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Some Indians have described the diplomat's treatment |
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by police as shameful. |
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Salman Khurshid is India's Foreign Minister. |
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"We feel a very extreme level of distress |
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in terms of human element that is involved." |
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Another official, Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, |
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cancelled his meeting with a five-member US congressional delegation. |
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But the diplomatic dispute did not end there. |
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The Indian government asked the US embassy to withdraw one of its officers. |
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It also removed security barriers from outside the embassy, |
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ordered a suspension of some diplomatic activities, |
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and took back airport passes. |
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An American law professor says India's government has overreacted. |
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Thomas McDonnell teaches at Pace University Law School. |
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"The idea of removing the concrete barriers |
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in front of our embassy that protect our ambassador |
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and other officials from a terrorist attack |
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seems extraordinarily out of proportion." |
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US officials say New York police |
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followed standard rules in making the arrest. |
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One question is whether Devyani Khobragade |
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had special rights as a diplomat. |
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But a State Department official said |
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she did not have the top level of diplomatic immunity. |
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American media and other groups have been following the case. |
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Jo Becker works for Human Rights Watch. |
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"The diplomat has been charged with a felony |
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and there has been a big uproar over her treatment. |
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But the controversy had completely overshadowed |
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the exploitation of her employee |
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and similar abuses against millions of domestic workers |
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that happen worldwide every single day". |
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Ms. Becker noted that Secretary of State John Kerry |
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called a top Indian official to express regret over the incident. |
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Yet US officials say the charges against Ms. Khobragade |
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will not be dropped, and that she would face them if she returns. |
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And that's In The News from VOA Learning English. |
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I'm Steve Ember. |
