Secretary of State John Kerry called India's national security adviser1 on Wednesday to express his regret after one of India's top diplomats2 was arrested on fraud charges and strip-searched in New York City, creating a rift3 between the two countries.
一位印度女外交官在美遭逮捕和脱衣搜身，让印度举国愤怒。为防止事态升级，美国国务卿克里18日专程致电印度国家安全顾问梅农，对此事表示“遗憾和关切”。
Deputy
Consul4 General Devyani Khobragade is accused of submitting false documents to get a work visa for her Manhattan
housekeeper5, an Indian national she allegedly paid less than $3 per hour.
In an email to Indian newspapers published on Wednesday, Khobragade said American police did
cavity（腔，洞） searches on her after she was arrested and
imprisoned7 on Dec. 12.
Lawmakers in New Delhi called her
alleged6 treatment "despicable" and "barbaric," and responded by taking
amenities8 away from the U.S. Embassy there.
Advertise | AdChoicesOn Wednesday afternoon, State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said in a statement that Kerry had called Indian National Security Adviser Shivshanker Menon to "express his regret, as well as his concern that we not allow this unfortunate public issue to hurt our close and vital relationship with India."
"The secretary understands very deeply the importance of enforcing our laws and protecting victims, and, like all officials in positions of responsibility inside the U.S. government, expects that laws will be followed by everyone here in our country," the statement said.
"It is also particularly important to Secretary Kerry that foreign diplomats serving in the United States are accorded respect and dignity just as we expect our own diplomats should receive overseas."
Khobragade, 39, was arrested and handcuffed while dropping her daughter off at school, then held in a cell with drug
addicts9 until she posted $250,000
bail10, according to Indian officials.
She wrote of her arrest, "I broke down many times as the
indignities11 of repeated handcuffing, stripping and cavity searches, swabbing, in a holdup with common criminals and drug addicts, were all being imposed upon me, despite my
incessant12 assertions of
immunity13."
U.S. Marshals confirmed in a statement that she was strip-searched following "standard arrestee
intake14 procedures."
Khobragade is accused of visa fraud -- lying to the State Department about the terms under which she sponsored a visa for a woman from India to come to the U.S. and work for her as a babysitter and housekeeper. Foreign diplomats and dconsular officials are allowed to get visas for people from their home countries to work for them in the U.S., but the employees must be paid the U.S. minimum age and can't be forced to work excessively.
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